The Russian rouble rallied against the dollar to its strongest level since late October in light trade on Monday in the absence of foreign players away for the Christmas holidays. The rouble strengthened to 57.80 versus the dollar, a level not seen since October 30.
Against the euro, the rouble touched its strongest since November 8 of 68.87. After hitting peaks, the rouble retreated. As of 1357 GMT, the rouble was 0.7 percent firmer at 57.97 and gained 0.5 percent to 68.86 versus the euro.
"Today, international investors are on Christmas holidays, so we expect hibernation trading on most markets," VTB Capital said in a note. Trading volumes on the Moscow Exchange in the usually most liquid dollar-rouble trading section stood at $1.4 billion two hours before the end of the main session, far below an average daily volume of $3 billion seen in the past few months.
Shares in business conglomerate Sistema shot up 18.4 percent after the company reached an amicable agreement in a multibillion dollar legal row with Russia's No.1 oil producer Rosneft. The rouble and stocks retained support from oil prices that rose 0.2 percent to $65.04 last Friday.
The dollar-denominated RTS index was up 0.7 percent to 1,143.7 points, its highest since December 19. The rouble-based MOEX Russian index, previously known as MICEX, was 0.1 percent higher at 2,104.3 points.
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