MOSCOW: The Russian rouble dipped slightly in early trade on Friday as oil ticked lower, and Russian stocks fell after hitting a record high overnight.
At 0720 GMT, the rouble had lost 0.3 percent to fall to 64.17 against the dollar and was down 0.6 percent against the euro to trade at 68.5..
The moves reflected a slide in Brent crude futures, a global benchmark for Russia's main export. They were down 0.7 percent at $53.55 a barrel.
The decline in oil prices was attributed to profit taking, with some investors cashing out after Brent touched a 16-month high the day before on news that OPEC and Russia had agreed to reduce crude output to support prices.
Analysts said that Russian market players also tended to try to lock in any profits ahead of the weekend, putting pressure on stock indexes and the rouble.
The rouble-traded MICEX index was 0.1 lower at 2019.92 after touching an all-time high of 2128.70 on Thursday. The dollar-denominated RTS index slid 0.6 percent to 1040.64.
Copyright Reuters, 2016
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