MOSCOW Reuters - The Russian rouble was higher against the dollar on Monday, recovering some ground after its largest weekly slump since early July due to concerns over the impact of oil and gas sanctions on Russia's export revenue.
The rouble lost about 8% last week and is down 12.5% this month after an oil embargo and price cap came into force. The finance ministry said the recent decline was related to recovering imports.
The rouble was 0.8% stronger against the dollar at 69.67 at the time of 0711 GMT. It was up 2.3% against the euro at 73.91 and fell 0.2% against the yuan to 9.91.
The rouble is likely to be light on Monday, according to Otkritie Research, with the rouble likely to strengthen in the month-end tax period, which usually sees Russian exporters convert foreign exchange revenue to pay local liabilities.
The rouble is one of the world's best performing against the dollar this year, supported by capital controls and reduced imports, but it has lost top spot to Brazil's real in the past week.
Russian equities were given some support for Brent crude oil, a global benchmark for Russia's main export, up 3.7% at $84.0 a barrel.
The market could be moved in the right direction if investors are to rebalance their portfolios in the last week of the year, according to Sinara Investment Bank.
The dollar-denominated RTS index was up 0.1% at 964.1 points, while the Russian MOEX index gained 0.4% to 2,132. 1 point.