It gained 0.4% to trade at 76.01 versus the euro and had firmed 0.1% against the yuan to 10.41 . Increased sales of China's yuan will support the rouble, but it will remain in a moderately declining trend, said Alor Broker in a note.
Russia plans to sell 8.9 billion roubles ($125.62 million) worth of foreign currency per day from Tuesday, a near three-fold increase on the previous month, compensating for lower oil and gas revenue. Slumping energy revenues and soaring expenditure pushed Russia's federal budget to a deficit of about $25 billion in January, as sanctions and the cost of Moscow's military campaign in Ukraine choke the economy's prospects. January oil and gas revenues were 46.4% lower year-on-year. European Union countries last week agreed to set price caps at $100 per barrel on products that trade at a premium to crude, principally diesel, and $45 per barrel for products that trade at a discount, such as fuel oil and naphtha.
Brent crude oil , a global benchmark for Russia's main export, was up 1.4% at $82.1 a barrel.
Russian stock indexes were higher. The rouble-based MOEX Russian index was 0.3% higher at 2,278.1 points, its highest mark since mid-September. The dollar-denominated RTS index was up 0.6% to 1,013.1 points.
Analysts polled by Reuters expect Russia's central bank to
hold its key interest rate at 7.5% on Friday, but to give a more
hawkish signal to the market.
"It is quite possible that its rhetoric will be tightened
somewhat, as proinflationary factors appear to be intensifying,"
said Artem Arkhipov, head of macroeconomic research and
strategic analysis at UniCredit.
($1 = 70.8500 roubles)
(Reporting by Alexander Marrow; Editing by Robert Birsel)
