The Russian ruble firmed against the dollar on Tuesday, while prices for OFZ government bonds rose to their highest since Feb. 21 on expectations that the central bank would soon cut interest rates again.
The ruble has fully recovered to levels seen before Feb. 24 when Russia sent tens of thousands of troops to Ukraine, triggering an unprecedented wave of western sanctions against Russia.
The ruble ended Moscow trading 1.6 percent firmer against the dollar at 78.52, its strongest level since April 11.
Against the euro, the ruble eased 0.5 percent to 84.10 after on Monday briefly touching its strongest level since April 8 of 82.60. On the bond market, where non-residents have not been allowed to sell paper since late February, yields on 10-year benchmark OFZ bonds fell to 10.25 percent, their lowest since Feb. 21, from around 11.6 percent seen a week ago. Yields move inversely with bond prices.
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