Rouble firms vs dollar as Russian exporters pay monthly taxes

The Russian rouble firmed against the dollar on Tuesday, supported by exporters converting foreign currency revenues to pay local taxes and oil prices staying near two-week highs.

The Russian rouble firmed against the dollar on Tuesday, supported by exporters converting foreign currency revenues to pay local taxes and oil prices staying near two-week highs. At 0705 GMT, the rouble was 0.1% stronger against the dollar at 76.57 and was steady at 82.68 versus the euro . It was unchanged against the yuan at 11.12 .

Given the rouble's relatively modest rise on Monday, as oil prices jumped higher, and with support from month-end taxes set to wear off, the Russian currency will likely weaken at the start of April, possibly touching the 80 mark, said Alor Broker's head of investment consulting Alexei Antonov. Brent crude oil, a global benchmark for Russia's main export, was down 0.1% at $78.1 a barrel.

Russian stock indexes were higher. The dollar-denominated RTS index was up 0.9% at 1,010.8 points. The rouble-based MOEX Russian index was 0.7% higher at 2,457.0 points.

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