Russian ruble rides to five-month high

The Russian ruble traded at a five-month high Friday, having steadily climbed out of its winter slump to the joy of officials and leaving analysts scratching their heads. The Russian currency was trading as high as 50.27 to the dollar and 53.4 to the euro around the early afternoon. The ruble slumped dramatically in December as global oil prices collapsed, taking its 2014 drop to over 40 percent, which drove up inflation and compounded an economic crisis in the oil-dependent country. Since then