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By Bloomberg

The ruble strengthened, paring its worst annual slide since 1998, on speculation Russia stepped in to shore up the currency on the final trading day of the year.

The ruble advanced 1.5 percent to 57.4530 a dollar by 11:40 a.m. in Moscow, trimming an earlier gain of as much as 6.4 percent. It lost 43 percent this year, the most after Ukraine’s hryvnia among peers tracked by Bloomberg globally. Government bonds fell the most in emerging markets in 2014, with the five- year yield climbing 815 basis points to 15.37 percent. The Micex Index headed for the first decline in three years.

Up against slumping oil, sanctions over the Ukraine conflict and the threat of credit-rating downgrade to junk as recession looms, Russia took a series of steps to boost confidence in the ruble since it slid to a record 80.10 on Dec. 16. State-controlled exporters were ordered to sell foreign currency, banks were promised easier access to dollars and euros, and the government announced a 1 trillion-ruble ($17.6 billion) recapitalization plan for lenders.

“It is important for the government to show a stronger closing on the last trading day of the year,” Vladimir Miklashevsky, a strategist at Danske Bank A/S in Helsinki, said in e-mailed comments. “The ruble rate has become again an important factor for internal stability and an indicator of the state of economy for ordinary citizens in Russia.”

Today’s move was due to either state companies or the Finance Ministry buying rubles, he said. The ministry sold $920 million on Dec. 18 and 19, Bank of Russia data show.

Russia’s foreign-exchange reserves slumped by 113 billion rubles this year to $399 billion, mostly as the central bank poured funds into currency interventions. The Bank of Russia also sought to support the ruble with six interest-rate increases totaling 11.5 percentage points to 17 percent.

In a directive last week, the government ordered OAO Gazprom and four other state-controlled exporters to cut foreign-currency holdings by March 1 to levels no higher than they were on Oct. 1, helping spur the ruble’s 8.4 percent weekly advance versus the dollar.