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The Russian rouble edged higher on Friday, hovering near 60 against the dollar as oil prices staged a light recovery, but lacking significant growth drivers going into the weekend.

At 0739 GMT, the rouble was 0.1% stronger against the dollar at 60.28 and had gained 0.2% to trade at 61.36 versus the euro.

The rouble is the world's best-performing currency so far this year, having received an artificial boost from capital controls Russia imposed after sending tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24.

The strong rouble has helped to limit burgeoning inflation and opened the door for central bank rate cuts, but is damaging to budget revenues and export-focused firms that rely on selling commodities abroad.

"The rouble is for now ignoring falling oil, but this will not continue for long, as a drop in foreign currency inflows into the country will follow the decline in oil quotations," said Alor Broker in a note.

Brent crude oil, a global benchmark for Russia's main export, was up 0.7% at $94.8 a barrel. It struck a more than five-month low in the previous session.

BCS Global Markets said Russia's stock market decline should continue on Friday.

"No growth drivers are seen in the short term, while the pre-weekend profit taking and generally lower activity may exacerbate the decline," BCS said.

The dollar-denominated RTS index was down 1.1% to 1,092.1 points. The rouble-based MOEX Russian index was 1.2% lower at 2,090.2 points.

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For Russian treasury bonds see

(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Kim Coghill)


Reuters