Russian rouble treads water ahead of central bank rate decision

The Russian rouble held fairly steady on Friday, under pressure from relatively low oil prices and ahead of the central bank's final rate-setting of the year, with economists widely expecting a hold.

At 0708 GMT, the rouble was 0.2% weaker against the dollar at 64.49. It sunk to 64.9500 in the previous session, its weakest since July 6.

The currency had gained 0.2% to trade at 68.85 versus the euro. It had shed 0.3% against the yuan to 9.24 , not far from the 4-1/2-month low it touched on Thursday.

The rouble may cross the 65 threshold to the greenback later in the session, Banki.ru chief analyst Bogdan Zvarich said, but should start to recover some ground next week as exporters are likely to start accumulating roubles in anticipation of month-end taxes.

The rouble is also under pressure from sanctions after the imposition of a Russian oil price cap, which may threaten the country's soaring current account surplus.

Brent crude oil, a global benchmark for Russia's main export, was unchanged at $81.2 a barrel, having last week hit its lowest level this year.

The Bank of Russia is widely expected to hold its key interest rate at 7.5% later on Friday, as inflation continues to slow and it assesses the possible economic impact of the oil price cap and embargo, a Reuters poll found.

Russian stock indexes were falling.

The dollar-denominated RTS index was down 0.5% to 1,036.4 points. The rouble-based MOEX Russian index was 0.2% lower at 2,122.6 points.