MOSCOW: The Russian rouble was flat against the dollar on Monday before public holidays, while stocks rose along with their global peers after the S&P 500 index reached a record high in the United States.
At 0730 GMT, the rouble was unchanged against the dollar at 64.73 and against the euro at 72.21 .
Trading has waned as the Moscow Exchange will be closed for public holidays on May 1 and May 9 and little market activity is expected between those dates.
The rouble remained at levels seen last Friday after the Russian central bank held its key interest rate at 7.75 percent but signalled it would consider rate cuts later this year.
Yields of 10-year benchmark OFZ bonds were steady at 8.3 percent, also showing little reaction to the central bank's decision.
The finance ministry will not carry out its regular OFZ treasury bond auctions this week because of the holidays. High demand for these bonds, which serve as a gauge of market sentiment toward Russian assets, has supported the rouble in the past few weeks.
VTB Capital Research said in a note that the next OFZ bond auctions, scheduled for May 8, "might provide the market some technical support during several upcoming trading sessions."
Oil prices, which usually provide momentum for Russian assets, declined, extending a slump that has ended weeks of gains, but remained above $70 per barrel.
Russian stocks rose after Asian and U.S. markets gained.
The dollar-denominated RTS index was up 0.4 percent to 1,251.98 points. The rouble-based MOEX Russian index was 0.4 percent higher at 2,573.10 points, heading towards last week's record high of 2,599.58.
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