MOSCOW: The Russian rouble firmed to a one-month high against the dollar on Wednesday, ahead of two treasury bond auctions by the finance ministry and as the market looked ahead to congressional testimony from US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

At 0742 GMT, the rouble was 0.1% stronger against the dollar at 90.40, its strongest since Feb. 6.

“The dollar-rouble pair is moving towards the lower boundary of the 90-92.5 range, but it is unlikely to consolidate below this support, given the approaching long weekend,” Alor Broker’s Alexei Antonov said.

The Russian market will be closed on Friday for International Women’s Day.

The rouble had gained 0.5% to trade at 98.21 versus the euro and firmed 0.4% against the yuan to 12.51.

The Russian currency has now lost the support of month-end tax payments that usually see exporters convert foreign currency revenues to meet local liabilities.

Russian rouble recovers some ground against US dollar

March tax payments are set to be almost double those of February, according to Sber Investments. Brent crude oil, a global benchmark for Russia’s main export, was up 0.4% at $82.38 a barrel.

Russian stock indexes were mixed.

The dollar-denominated RTS index was steady 1,148.2 points.

The rouble-based MOEX Russian index was 0.2% lower at 3,295.0 points.