At 0710 GMT, the rouble shed 0.2 percent to 68.80 against the dollar, changing directions but at a distance from 69.49, a level it briefly hit on Wednesday for the first time since Sept. 12.

Against the euro, the rouble was down 0.3 percent at 78.23 .

The rouble headed away from multi-month lows as prices for Brent in rebounded to $55.29 per barrel from $49.93, the lowest level since mid-2017.

The rouble's upside is likely to be limited as retail demand for foreign currency usually increases ahead of Russia's long New Year holidays, while support from local taxes wanes.

Russian stock indexes were higher, tracing moves in oil prices.

The dollar-denominated RTS index was up 1.5 percent at 1,068.5 points, while the rouble-based MOEX Russian index  climbed 1.1 percent higher to 2,335.8 points.