The Russian ruble and stocks opened lower on the MICEX-RTS Exchange on Thursday as investors reacted with disappointment to the U.S. Federal Reserve’s decision to not provide fresh monetary stimulus, at the end of its two-day policy meeting on Wednesday.
As of 09:40 a.m. Moscow time (05:35 GMT), the ruble fell by 17 kopecks against the U.S. dollar to 32.3375 and by 21 kopecks against the euro to 39.7925.
The ruble-denominated MICEX stock index was down 0.15 percent to 1,409.69 while the dollar-denominated RTS fell by 0.18 percent to 1,374.86 points.
U.S. stocks and Treasuries fell while the dollar strengthened against the euro on Wednesday, after the Federal Reserve proposed no major policy action.
But the Fed retained the option of further bond-buying, known as quantitative easing, to boost a sluggish U.S. economic recovery.
“The Committee will closely monitor incoming information on economic and financial developments and will provide additional accommodation as needed to promote a stronger economic recovery and sustained improvement in labor market conditions in a context of price stability,” the Fed said in a statement.
Markets are now pinning hopes on the European Central Bank’s policy meeting later on Thursday, at which the regulator is expected to restart bond-buying to drive down the borrowing costs of heavily-indebted eurozone countries like Italy and Spain, which have been hovering at critical levels in the past few months.