Ruble bears left with round figures like 90/dollar, 100/dollar further south in panic: Technical analysis

Russian markets, especially the currency, are battered in a panic selloff, and in the uncharted territory, the rouble bears do not seem to have any specific levels targeted further south except for round numbers like 90 and 100.

As of Wednesday, charts have some levels to talk about with the currency continuing to find some support, though exceedingly high volatility makes taking positions in the market nearly impossible.

Many forex brokerages and platforms have suspended trading in ruble since Tuesday.

The Russian unit after falling nearly 40% in just two weeks to the 16 December trough of 79.50/dollar, made a 17% comeback to 68/dollar the next day, indicating the extent of volatility.

Given that the rout in the currency had been worse since June when crude oil too started falling with increased momentum, Fibonacci retracement of the USD/RUB upmove over the past six months, point to certain levels that can be significant in case of reversal of trends.

The pair is now at the first such level, the 23.6% mark, and a break of that will take the pair down to the 38.2% level of 62/dollar. The pair had already made a brief visit to that level earlier on Wednesday before bouncing back near 68/dollar.

What follows further will be 56/dollar, the 50% retracement. However, as long as that level is held, risks will be skewed more towards north in search of new lows for the Russian currency.