MOSCOW: The Russian rouble weakened against China’s yuan, reflecting weak sales of the Chinese currency by exporting companies, but strengthened slightly against the US dollar on Friday.

The rouble was up 0.5% at 101.70 against the dollar by 0915 GMT, over-the-counter market data showed. The rouble weakened 0.6% to 13.60 against China’s yuan in trading on the Moscow Stock Exchange (MOEX).

The yuan has become the most traded foreign currency in Russia due to Western sanctions.

“The market is generally optimistic about the rouble but corporations are holding onto the foreign currency,” said a dealer from a large Russian bank, who declined to be identified.