Interbank keeps its balance, but cash dollar signals otherwise

On the interbank currency market on Friday, August 28, a balance of supply and demand is maintained, supported by interventions of the National Bank. Deals in the first half of the trading session are within the range of 44.52–44.62 UAH. The proximity to the month-end is a factor: enterprises need hryvnia to pay budget payments, settle with counterparties, and pay salaries to their employees. Therefore, demand for foreign currency somewhat decreased, while supply from exporters increased.

The euro on Ukraine's interbank market on Friday cheapened from 51.97 to 51.83 UAH on the bid side. On FOREX, the euro has been falling for the third consecutive day and has already dropped to the 1.1640 dollar mark. Investors worldwide await today's speech by US Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh at the symposium in the American town of Jackson Hole. His statements may have a significant impact on financial markets.

In the capital, cash dollar price tags have been rising for the second consecutive day. If on Thursday afternoon wholesale exchange offices of Kyiv were selling dollars at 44.72–44.74 UAH, today they are at 44.75–44.77 UAH. In other cities, price tags have scarcely changed. In Chernivtsi today, the dollar is sold at 44.75 UAH, in Kharkiv at 44.79 UAH, in Mykolaiv, Poltava and Kropyvnytskyi at 44.80 UAH, and in Odesa at 44.81–44.85 UAH.

Ukrainian banks by 1:00 PM were selling dollars at prices ranging from 44.72 UAH in some branches of Bank Lviv on the right bank of Ukraine to 45.05 UAH in Zaporizhzhia's Metbank. As for the euro, at the moment it can be purchased at the cheapest at 51.98 UAH in some branches of Poltava-Bank on the right bank of Ukraine.

Oil prices are trying to rise amid ongoing tensions in the Middle East. The price of the most popular Brent brand rose to $89.14 per barrel yesterday evening, and by the time of writing the article, it is trading in the range of $88.11–88.33 per barrel.

On crypto exchanges in recent days, high price volatility of major cryptocurrencies has been observed: they either sharply go up or sharply fall. For example, Bitcoin (BTC) on the most popular Binance exchange on Friday morning rose to $81,478 per coin, while Ethereum (ETH) rose to $2,535.05 per coin. Currently, Bitcoin is sold at $79,180–79,200 per coin, and Ethereum at $2,480–2,490 per coin.