MOSCOW: The Russian rouble reversed early losses to strengthen against the dollar on Monday as non-resident “friendly” investors returned to stocks trading and the finance ministry set out its borrowing plan for September after a seven-month pause.

Russia suspended weekly auctions of OFZ treasury bonds, which it uses to plug budget holes, in February, weeks before it started what it calls a “special military operation” in Ukraine, which triggered unprecedented Western sanctions against Moscow.

Emergency capital controls and collapsing imports widening Russia’s current account surplus have seen the rouble become the world’s best-performing currency this year.

STOCKS CLIMB

Moscow Exchange will resume evening trading on its stock market from Monday and also welcomed back non-residents from what Russia deems friendly countries - those which have not imposed sanctions on Moscow.

Russia’s largest bourse is gradually widening its offering, seeking to return some sense of normalcy to Russian financial markets after severe disruptions in February and March as Western sanctions over Russia’s actions in Ukraine began to bite.

Russian stock indexes climbed as non-residents returned. “Most likely, this will have a neutral effect on the Russian market, since a significant part of the securities is still banned for non-residents,” BCS Global Markets said in a note.