MOSCOW: The Russian rouble was steady on Monday, hovering near its two-week high against the U.S. dollar, ahead of the central bank's rate-setting meeting due on Friday.
Activity on the Russian market is likely to be below average this week as the Moscow Exchange will be closed on Wednesday for a state holiday. The Finance Ministry will not hold its weekly auctions of OFZ government bonds for the same reason.
The rouble was little changed to 64.83 against the dollar as of 0750 GMT after briefly touching 64.73, its strongest since May 28.
Against the euro, the rouble gained 0.3% to trade at 73.23 .
Russian assets received support from oil prices that rose on Monday after Saudi Arabia said producer club OPEC and Russia should restrict supplies to current levels, while Washington's withdrawal of a tariff threat against Mexico removed a cloud over the global economy.
Brent crude oil, a global benchmark for Russia's main export, was up 0.4% at $63.51 a barrel.
The central bank is on the radar this week as its board is set to decide whether to trim the key rate, now at 7.75%. Governor Elvira Nabiullina will shed more light on the bank's policy at a news briefing due after the rate decision on Friday.
"The FX market reaction will depend on further rhetoric of the regulator. If it directly hints on the beginning of the monetary easing cycle, some market players could lock in profits," Rosbank analysts said.
Russian stock indexes were up.
The dollar-denominated RTS index gained 0.4% to 1,331.4 points. The rouble-based MOEX Russian index was also 0.4% higher at 2,739.4 points.
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