Russia’s ruble weakened today after crude oil declined, reacting to the negative data about the US unemployment claims that reduced hopes for improvement of the economy in the US.

The jobless claims came out at 408,000 last week, worse than predicted 402,000. Higher unemployment means slower economic growth and, as a consequence, less demand for fuel. Futures for delivery of crude oil in September fell 1.6 percent to $86.19 per barrel. Oil is the major source of export revenue for Russia.

USD/RUB rose from 28.7645 to 29.1050 today as of 13:58 GMT. The daily high for the currency pair was at 29.1733.

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