MOSCOW: The rouble on Monday trimmed losses from earlier in the session, as prices of oil, Russia's main export commodity, edged up, prompting investors to lock in profits after six straight sessions in the red.
By 1400 GMT the Russian currency was down 0.1 percent to 31.98 versus the dollar, bouncing from the weakest levels since September 2012. The rouble was 0.1 percent lower against the euro at 41.55.
The rouble was down by the same margin versus the dollar-euro basket, at 36.30, hovering at nine-month lows after earlier trading at its weakest since July 2012.
"Speculative buying (of foreign currency) ended after oil prices edged up and profit-taking began. There was a feeling that the rouble was oversold," said a dealer at a Russian bank, who expected the trend for a weaker rouble to persist.
Brent futures slipped for the first time in a month to below $100 per barrel on concern over the outlook for Chinese demand, but bounced back later in the day to $101.6 per barrel.
The rouble's slide will meet resistance at the level of 36.65 versus the euro-dollar basket, beyond which the central bank may scale up its interventions to $200 million per day, Alexander Morozov, economist at HSBC, said.
It sold $70 million on Thursday, when the rouble traded at 35.76-36.13 versus the basket, official data showed.
The dollar-traded RTS index was down 0.9 percent at 1,313.1 points and the rouble-traded MICEX fell by the same margin to 1,319.9 points, trimming some early losses.
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