The ruble is bouncing back after Putin says he won't retaliate by kicking out Americans

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December 30, 2016 4:26 PM

The Russian ruble held near a 17-month high against the dollar on Friday after President Vladimir Putin said Russia would not respond to US sanctions by expelling Americans.

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At 8 a.m. ET, the ruble was weaker by 1.02% at 61.027 per dollar. It slid against the greenback early Friday ahead of Putin's comments. Russia's foreign minister had previously suggested the country might expel 35 American diplomats.

On Thursday, President Barack Obama announced sanctions after US intelligence agencies found evidence of Russian cyberhacking carried out to influence the November election.

Obama ordered that 35 Russian diplomats from the Russian Embassy in Washington and the Russian Consulate in San Francisco leave the US. He also closed Russian compounds in New York and Maryland in response to what he said was harassment of American diplomats in Moscow.

President-elect Donald Trump responded Thursday to the sanctions, saying it was "time to move on" but adding that he would meet with intelligence officials to discuss Russian involvement in election hacks anyway.

Also Friday, the euro spiked against the US dollar, reportedly moved by a computer-generated order, according to Marc Chandler, the head of global foreign-exchange strategy at Brown Brothers Harriman. In the Asian trading sessions, the euro leaped from about $1.0500 to over $1.0650 in a few minutes. At 8 a.m. ET, it traded near 1.0537.

It's quiet elsewhere in markets, with the news flow light before New Year's Eve.

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