MOSCOW: The Russian rouble opened stronger on Tuesday, helped by local tax payments, as investors awaited signals from OPEC oil producers on a possible output-limiting deal.
At 0756 GMT, the rouble was 0.4 percent stronger against the dollar at 63.72 and had gained 0.3 percent to trade at 71.69 versus the euro.
The Russian currency was catching up with a 3 percent increase in oil prices late in the previous session and benefiting from foreign-currency sales by exporters for end-of-month tax payments.
Brent crude oil, a global benchmark for Russia's main export, was down 0.9 percent at $46.9 a barrel on profit taking after gains in the previous session.
Members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and some non-OPEC crude producers are meeting on the sidelines of the International Energy Forum in Algeria from Sept. 26-28 to discuss possible oil output cut or freeze.
"The rouble rate will be determined by news from Algeria," Aleksandr Yegorov, an analyst at TeleTrade wrote in a note. He saw the rouble trading in a range of 63.5-64.5 against the dollar in the first half of the session.
"So far the rouble's performance is in line with our expectations: as long as Brent remains in the $45-$50/bbl range, the rouble's sensitivity to crude's swings remain moderate," Maxim Korovin, a strategist at VTB Capital, wrote in a note.
Russian share indexes were lower.
The dollar-denominated RTS index was down 0.2 percent to 985 points, while the rouble-based MICEX was 0.3 percent lower at 1,992 points.
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