MOSCOW, Dec 13 (Reuters) - The Russian rouble steadied near a more than one-week high on Wednesday, with the market looking ahead to an expected interest rate hike later this week as the supply of foreign currency from exporters showed signs of rising after an early December dip.
Most analysts polled by Reuters expect Russia to raise interest rates by 100 basis points to 16% on Dec. 15. Inflation pressure exacerbated by labour shortages and lending growth is expected to force the central bank to extend its monetary tightening cycle to one last hike.
At 0730 GMT, the rouble was 0.1% stronger against the dollar at 89.91, hitting 89.73 earlier in the session, its strongest point since Dec. 1.
It had gained 0.2% to trade at 96.99 versus the euro and firmed 0.3% against the yuan to 12.49 .
The rouble's gains are facilitated by expectations of a rate hike on Friday and the growth of foreign currency supply from exporters, said Bogdan Zvarich, chief analyst at Banki.ru. Lower oil prices may act as a deterrent, he added.
The rouble weakened in early December after the passing of a favourable month-end tax period that usually sees exporters convert foreign exchange revenue to pay local liabilities.
It had previously registered seven weeks of gains, rebounding from more than 100 to the dollar thanks to reduced capital outflows since Russian President Vladimir Putin's October introduction of forced conversion of some foreign currency revenue by exporters.
The market is also likely to pay close attention to a speech by Putin on Thursday. Putin, who last week said he would run again for election next year, faces numerous economic challenges, but the West's limited success in imposing an oil price cap is easing pressure for now.
Brent crude oil, a global benchmark for Russia's main export, was down 0.6% at $72.79 a barrel.
Russian stock indexes were mixed.
The dollar-denominated RTS index was up 0.1% to 1,056.9 points. The rouble-based MOEX Russian index was 0.1% lower at 3.015.9 points. (Reporting by Alexander Marrow; Editing by Sharon Singleton)
