MOSCOW: The Russian rouble was steady on Tuesday after firming the day before, supported by a recent increase in oil prices and a decline in foreign currency purchases by the finance ministry.
The rouble traded at 56.47 versus the dollar as of 0735 GMT , near the closing level of the previous session. It had rebounded from 57.31 seen earlier on Monday.
The rouble's recovery was mostly driven by a rise in the price of oil, Russia's key exports. Brent crude futures rose to $65.6 per barrel from $63.2 seen in early March.
There is also less pressure on the currency from government purchases of foreign currency for state reserves.
The finance ministry announced on Monday it would buy the equivalent of 9.6 billion roubles ($170 million) a day on the Moscow exchange between March 7 and April 5, less than analysts polled by Reuters had forecast.
Against the euro, the rouble was 0.1 percent weaker at 69.72 .
Russian stock indexes were in the black. The dollar-denominated RTS index was up 1.1 percent at 1,293.62 points, while the rouble-based MOEX Russian index rose 0.5 percent to 2,320.6 points, its highest since Feb. 28.
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