Rouble firms towards 80 vs dollar, Petropavlovsk shares lose more than 20%

div classBodysc17zpet90 cdBBJodivpReuters – The Russian rouble firmed slightly towards 80 against the dollar on Friday and stock indexes declined, while shares in gold producer Petropavlovsk underperformed the broader market in Moscow trade and at one point fell more than 20 on the day.p

pRussian shares in Petropavlovsk, which is also listed in London, extended sharp losses suffered on Thursday after the company said it was considering putting itself up for sale, following sanctions on Russia and the risk of countermeasures.pdivdivdiv classBodysc17zpet90 cdBBJodiv

pPetropavlovsk shares were down 17 at 8.45 roubles 0.11 apiece as of 0749 GMT.p

pThe benchmark roublebased MOEX Russian index slid 0.1 to 2,402.9 points, and the dollardenominated RTS index also shed 0.1 to 939.7 points. p

pThe MOEX index is likely to consolidate within the range of 2,4002,450 on Friday, Promsvyazbank analysts said, adding that there were no strong factors capable of supporting the Russian market at the moment.p

pShares in Russias largest lenders Sberbank and VTB, both sanctioned by the west, slid around 0.7 the day after a central bank official said it was quite possible that the Russian banking sector would lose half of its capital.p

pThe Russian financial sector and economy have taken a hit from unprecedented western sanctions designed to punish Moscow for what it calls “a special military operation” in Ukraine that started on Feb. 24.p

pRussian authorities pledged to support the stock market with money from the rainyday National Wealth Fund and have imposed capital controls that helped the rouble to recover from alltime lows hit in March.p

pThe rouble gained 0.7 to 80.28 against the dollar, having pulled back from a record low of 121.52 hit on the Moscow Exchange on March 10.p

pOn electronic trading platform EBS, where the rouble fell as low as 160 to the greenback on March 7, the currency traded at 81 on Friday.p

pAgainst the euro, the rouble gained 1.1 to 86.06.p

pThe rouble eased this week after the central bank scrapped a 12 commission for buying foreign currency through brokerages and promised to lift a temporary ban on selling foreign exchange cash to individuals from April 18.p

pBut the rouble retains support from exportfocused companies that are still obliged to sell their foreign exchange revenues on the domestic market.p

pFor Russian equities guide seep

pFor Russian treasury bonds seep

p1 78.3750 roublesp