The Russian ruble is climbing

The Russian ruble is climbing.

The petro-currency is up by 0.7% at 61.0208 per dollar as of 7:48 a.m. ET.

Meanwhile, Brent crude oil, the international benchmark, is up 0.4% at $55.55 per barrel and WTI crude is higher by 0.5% at $53.55 per barrel ahead of crude oil inventory data, which will be out at 10:30 a.m. ET.

Oil prices are on track to close at their best level since July 2015.

As for the rest of the world, here’s the scoreboard as of 7:41 a.m. ET:

The Swedish krona is up by 1.1% at 9.2493 per dollar after the Riksbank extended its bond-buying program and kept rates unchanged at -0.5%. "It was a controversial decision and could be the last efforts," Marc Chandler, global head of currency strategy at Brown Brothers Harriman, wrote. "Two of the six-member board wanted to stop the bond purchases now. One other was interested in extending the purchases, but at half the pace that was ultimately decided." The euro is higher by 0.4% at 1.0429 against the dollar. Earlier, data showed that French PPI rose 0.8% in November. Separately, Italian wage inflation rose 0.5% year-over-year in November, and by 0.1% month-over-month in November. The US dollar index is down by 0.4% at 102.90. On the data front, existing home sales will be out at 10 a.m. ET. The Japanese yen is stronger by 0.6% at 117.19 per dollar. The British pound is little changed at 1.2380 against the dollar.