Hedge funds have faith in ruble

Over the past two weeks hedge funds and large speculators have been betting on the growth rate of the ruble against the dollar. This is confirmed by data released by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

According to the Commission, as of January 26th the gap between long speculative positions on the ruble rose to 2064 contracts. This is the highest figure since mid-November.

I is noted that in comparison with January 19th the number of short speculative positions fell by 597 contracts, while the number of long positions grew directly on 816 contracts.

For the first time this year hedge funds have begun to bet on the ruble. A currency strategist at Barclays, Juan Prada, explained that it was due to profiteering after a significant decline of the currency, RBC reports.

In the last week the ruble has significantly strengthened on the Moscow Stock Exchange. Yesterday  trading closed at 75.43 rubles to the dollar (down 2.59 rubles) and 81.74 rubles per euro (down 2.5 rubles).

In parallel, there was a rise in the oil prices, making the cost of a barrel of Brent oil hit $35.99 per barrel.