MOSCOW, Oct 10 Reuters The Russian rouble weakened further on Thursday, remaining at its lowest against the U.S. dollar and China39;s yuan since October 2023.

At 0740 GMT the rouble was down 0.4 at 97.40 against the dollar, LSEG data showed. The rouble on Wednesday hit the 97 mark for the first time since October last year.

The rouble was down 1.29 against the yuan at a oneyear low of 13.65, according to LSEG data. In trade on the Moscow Stock Exchange MOEX, the rouble was down 0.18 at 13.71 to the yuan.

The rouble has once again hit yearly lows; an autumn slide of the national currency is almost 15, said analysts at broker BCS.

Analysts pointed to several factors behind current rouble weakness, including the Oct. 12 expiration of a licence from the U.S. Treasury Department39;s Office of Foreign Assets Control OFAC allowing commercial banks to deal with MOEX.

The licence was issued to allow banks to wind down operations with MOEX after Western sanctions on the exchange and its clearing agent, the National Clearing Centre, were introduced on June 12.

The sanctions stopped all trade in dollars and euros at MOEX, making China39;s yuan the most traded foreign currency in Russia. Trade in dollars and euros has shifted to the overthecounter OTC market, obscuring price data.

There is concern in the market that Chinese banks providing yuan liquidity for exchange trading could pull out for compliance reasons after the OFAC licence expires.

Other factors pressuring the…