Australian and New Zealand dollars pulled back from their recent highs on Wednesday as escalating tensions in the Middle East dampened risk appetite, while the kiwi was also grappling with bets on a sharp drop in interest rates. The New Zealand dollar is down to $0.6285, after sliding 1.1% the previous session and leaving behind its peak of $0.6379. The short-term support is at $0.6254

The Russian ruble strengthened against the US dollar on Wednesday, regaining ground after a fall in the previous session, helped by rising prices of oil, Russia's main export commodity, due to tensions in the Middle East. As of 08:00 GMT, the ruble was up 1.5% to 94.40 against the dollar, according to indicative data from LSEG. The ruble lost more than 3% against the dollar on October 1, according to the data. Traders said that the closure of foreign currency positions prior to the escalation of tensions in the Middle East also helped the Russian currency. The ruble lost 0.4% to 13.35 against the Chinese yuan during trading on the Moscow Stock Exchange. The ruble lost more than 10% against the yuan in September and remains close to its lowest level in a year against the Chinese currency.