Russian rouble steadies near 105 vs dollar as volatile OFZ trading resumes

A view shows Russian rouble coins in this illustration picture taken March 25, 2021. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov/Illustration

March 21 (Reuters) – The Russian rouble steadied near 105 to the dollar in Moscow on Monday, while OFZ treasury bonds returned to trading in volatile fashion as Russia looks to gradually resume operations on its financial markets.

The central bank held its key interest rate at 20% on Friday, after an emergency rate hike in late February, and said it would begin buying OFZ bonds when the Moscow Exchange resumed trading those papers on Monday, hoping to limit volatility. read more

By 1018 GMT, the rouble gained 0.3% to 104.48 against the dollar and had lost 0.4% to trade at 115.15 versus the euro .

In offshore markets, rouble bids were last indicated at 105.87 per dollar , having been as strong as 93.6 in earlier…