MOSCOW: The Russian rouble opened slightly weaker on Monday as foreign currency supply struggled to meet demand that had built over the weekend.

At 0705 GMT, the rouble was down 0.1% against the dollar at 88.26 and slipped 0.05% against the euro to 96.25.

It had weakened 0.08% against the yuan to 12.23.

“During today’s session, we expect the rouble to try to switch to strengthening as exporters increase foreign currency sales ahead of the peak of tax payments which falls on Jan. 25,” said Bogdan Zvarich of the Banki.ru financial services marketplace.

Russian rouble holds steady around 88 to the dollar

Brent crude oil, a global benchmark for Russia’s main export, fell 0.4% to $78.23 a barrel. Russian stock indexes were up.

The dollar-denominated RTS index rose 0.2% to 1,132 points.

The rouble-based MOEX Russian index inched up 0.02% to 3,167 points.