YEREVAN, April 22. / ARKA /. Last week, the average exchange rate of U.S. dollar at NASDAQ OMX Armenia stock exchange fell by 0.36% to 415.50 drams and the weekly trading totaled $7.87 million, which was 28.0% less than the previous week.

The average selling rate of cash dollar went down by 0.40% on Saturday, April 20, to 416.53 drams, primarily due to reduced demand for foreign currency by businesses and individuals. In addition, the expected moderate growth in remittances to Armenia in April allows market participants to relax.

This week the U.S. dollar is likely to consolidate or decline slightly, however, given the expected positive trend of the U.S. dollar at international currency market against its major competitors, it   will not depreciate strongly.

The drop in the U.S. currency value will be added by falling purchases of the greenback by individuals and businesses. According to the Central Bank of Armenia, net sales of USD by commercial banks last week fell to $4.519 million from $5,722 million in the previous week. According to our estimates, the average selling rate of cash dollar in Armenia this week is likely to be between 415.0 - 419.0 drams.

Last week the cost of the single European currency in Armenia was determined by developments at global currency markets and the dynamics of Armenian dram against the U.S. currency. The euro suffered tangibly on Wednesday after the chairman of the Bundesbank, Jens Weidmann, said the ECB may lower the refinancing rate in the near future. As a result, the average selling rate of cash euro in Armenia last week dropped by 0.58% to 547.47 drams.

The average selling rate of the Russian ruble last week declined by 1.69% to 13.34 drams, due to a decrease in its value against the U.S. dollar at international currency market and the growth of the Armenian currency.

Mikael Verdyan, an analyst for FOREX CLUB, specially for ARKA news agency.
Views of the author may not necessarily represent those of the agency