USD/RUB extends losses to below 80 the figure

• The rouble strengthened in Moscow trade on Monday.
• Russian market is gradually reopening and returning to normal.

The Russian rouble has performed strongly while Russian stocks extended their slide lower on the third day of trading after an almost month-long suspension.

The Russian market is gradually reopening and returning to normal following the sanctions that were imposed by the West for the invasion of Ukraine. USD/RUB has traded to as low as 79.90 on the day so far and has moved in on February's resistance and breakout area that could act as support for the sessions ahead. 

''Russian stocks and bonds resumed trading in full on Monday, albeit for a curtailed time frame and with various restrictions, including a ban on short-selling, still in place. Non-residents are barred from selling stocks and OFZ rouble bonds until April 1,'' Reuters reported.

The firm comeback in the ruble started on the back of  President Vladimir Putin announcing last Wednesday that Russia will demand “unfriendly'' countries pay for Russian natural gas exports only in rubles from now on.

In a meeting with government officials, Putin said that “a number of Western countries made illegitimate decisions on the so-called freezing of the Russian assets, effectively drawing a line over the reliability of their currencies, undermining the trust for those currencies.”

Meanwhile, yields on Russia's benchmark 10-year OFZ treasury bonds were at 13.61%, down from last week's record high of 19.74%, which is just below the central bank's key interest rate, but still at levels last seen in March 2015, Reuters explained in a note on Tuesday.