The ruble weakened for the first time in three days as falling crude oil and concern about Russia’s contracting economy prompted hedge funds and other speculators to bet on currency declines for an 11th week. While the ruble has recovered from a record-low close a month ago, it’s still the worst performer among emerging markets this quarter after Brazil’s real with a drop of 16 percent. Natural-gas producers Gazprom PJSC and OAO Novatek pulled the benchmark equities gauge lower on speculation the government will increase taxes on the industry as it seeks to plug the widest budget deficit since 2010. Speculators were net short the ruble for the eleventh week, the longest bearish streak this year, U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data showed on Sept. 25. They increased net ruble short positions to negative 2,543 futures in the week ended Sept. 22, the data, which are reported with a […]