The Bank of Russia maintained its hawkish rhetoric as it held rates, warning that a widening budget deficit and labour shortages pose inflationary risks, and said it would consider the need for rate hikes at upcoming meetings. By 1112 GMT, the rouble was 0.4% weaker against the dollar at 76.69 and had lost 0.4% to trade at 81.46 versus the euro . It had shed 0.2% against the yuan to 11.1 . The Russian currency had clipped near 11-month lows against the dollar, euro and yuan in the previous session.
"Next week the rouble will start to get more active support from the tax period, which together with rising oil prices will support the rouble exchange rate," Alor Broker analyst Alexei Antonov said.
Russian exporters' demand for rouble tends to increase when they convert their foreign currency revenue to pay month-end taxes. Brent crude oil , a global benchmark for Russia's main export, was up 0.4% at $75.0 a barrel, recovering ground from the more than one-year lows hit this week.
Russian stock indexes were higher, buoyed by Sberbank's record dividend proposal. The lender's shares traded 7.1% higher on the day.
The rouble-based MOEX Russian index was 1.9% higher at 2,301.8 points, hitting its highest since Sept. 20, 2022. The dollar-denominated RTS index was up 2% to 945.5 points.
For Russian equities guide see For Russian treasury bonds see (Reporting by Alexander Marrow; Editing by Christina Fincher and Barbara Lewis)
