The analyst believes that on “Thursday the dollar strengthened sharply in the American session after the publication of data on manufacturing inflation in the United States.”
“In February, the US producer price index rose to 1.6% year on year, exceeding the forecast of 1.1% and the previous figure of 1.0%.
On a monthly basis, the producer price index rose to 0.6%, exceeding market expectations of 0.3% and the previous increase of 0.3%.
The core US Producer Price Index (PPI) rose to 2.0% year on year, beating expectations which had been set at 1.9%.
The monthly figure rose to 0.3% from the previous 0.5% and forecast of 0.2%,” he explained.
According to Antonov, markets are still pricing in about a "60% chance that the Fed will cut interest rates at its June meeting, which will help limit losses in stock indexes and risk assets."
“Next week the dollar is expected to be in the range of 91-92.4 rubles,” he concluded.
Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that inflation in Russia was declining; in the first two weeks of March it went to zero.