Business Russian ruble continues slide vs dollar on lingering euro debt worries

The Russian ruble continued to slide against the U.S. dollar while Russian stocks were trading slightly higher on Wednesday amid investors’ lingering concerns of sovereign debt problems in the eurozone countries. The ruble is strengthening against the euro and falling against the U.S. dollar, reflecting trends on the global foreign exchange market where the single European currency fell to an 11-month low against the greenback on concerns that European leaders would be unable to resolve the eurozone debt crisis quickly and a warning by S&P to cut EU sovereign ratings in the coming days. “Last week, the agency warned that it intended to wait for the results of the EU summit and make corresponding conclusions for Europe’s prospects. However, the summit disappointed the markets as a whole and opinions in Europe continue to be split despite the adoption of some agreements while the short-term prospects of the European economies remain exposed to many risks,” Investcafe analyst Anna Bodrova said. As of 12:13 p.m. Moscow time (08:13 GMT), the ruble gained 35 kopecks against the euro to 41.3980 and fell by 12 kopeks against the dollar to 31.7665. The value of the bi-currency basket, comprising $0.55 and 0.45 euros fell by 7 kopecks to 36.0845. The euro was trading at 1.30 to the dollar on the MICEX. The MICEX index was up 1.75 percent to 1,388.95 while the RTS index gained 0.35 percent to 1,392.01. Moody’s Investors Service warned on Tuesday it might review the ratings of all European Union nations already in the first quarter of 2012 after last week’s summit failed to produce "decisive policy measures.” "Amid the increasing pressure on euro area authorities to act quickly to restore credit market confidence, the constraints they face are also rising. The longer that remains the case, the greater the risk of adverse economic conditions that would add to the already sizable challenges facing the authorities' coordination and debt reduction efforts," Moody’s said in a statement.