- Russian Ruble erased early losses and snaps modest gains
- Euro becomes softer against its major counterparts after ECB
- ECB to taper stimulus sooner than expected
- ECB’s Christine Lagarde said Russia – Ukraine conflict “will negatively affect” EU economy
The Ruble Euro (RUB/EUR) exchange rate was appreciated on Thursday, but the pair was held hostage within a narrow range. The pair gained +3.79% yesterday, settling at €0.00684, towards the high of the day.
At 08:05 UTC AM, RUB/EUR trades up +4.47% at €0.00779 building upon gains from yesterday.
Meanwhile, as the Russian invasion of Ukraine enters the sixteen-day, the risk-off mood resurfaced as we get closer to the market to shut down on the weekend.
Euro nosedived across the board following ECB’s surprise to taper stimulus sooner than the market expectation. The European Central Bank (ECB) announced on Thursday to complete winding down bond purchases in Q3 of 2022.
At the same time, the ECB downgrades its growth projection for the Euro area down to 4.2% in 2022 and 2.9% in 2023. On the same note, the ECB inflation forecast sees a big jump from 3.2% up to 5.1%.
“The Russia-Ukraine war will have a material impact on economic activity and inflation,” ECB President Christine Lagarde said in a press conference.
Elsewhere, in the energy sector, WTI crude oil futures price depreciated by another -2.5% to settle at $106.02 per barrel.