The Russian rouble steadied near 91 to the U.S. dollar on Monday, held up by relatively high oil prices, as exporters start converting foreign currency revenues in preparation for month-end tax payments.
At 0805 GMT, the rouble was 0.19% weaker against the dollar at 91.07 and had lost 0.3% to trade at 98.31 versus the euro. It firmed 0.27% against the yuan to 12.53.
In a note, Bogdan Zvarich, chief analyst at financial marketplace Banki.ru, said the rouble would be supported on Monday by the "stabilisation of the energy market above $80 for Brent oil and the expectation of increased demand for rouble liquidity from exporters ahead of the peak of tax payments."
Month-end tax payments usually see exporters convert foreign currency revenues to pay local liabilities.
Brent crude oil, a global benchmark for Russia's main export, was down 0.78% at $81.57 a barrel.
Russian stock indexes were also down slightly.
The dollar-denominated RTS index was down 0.4% to 1,117 points. The rouble-based MOEX Russian index was 0.31% lower at 3,232 points.
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(Reporting by Reuters, Writing by Felix Light; Editing by Bernadette Baum)
