MOSCOW: The Russian rouble extended gains on Wednesday, setting new 2015 highs against the dollar and the euro on the back of this week's rally in international oil prices.
At 0740 GMT, the rouble was 1.5 percent stronger against the dollar at 54.22, having earlier hit a 2015 high of 54.17, the strongest since Dec. 26.
The rouble also gained 1 percent to 58.94 versus the euro, having fallen below 58 roubles per euro for the first time since November.
A two-month-long rally in the Russian currency has gained momentum in April, supported by a rebound in international oil benchmark Brent. Oil is Russia's main export.
On Wednesday Brent was down 1.3 percent on the day at $58.30 per barrel, but had risen strongly the previous evening for the second day in a row.
"Besides the rising prices for oil... the rouble was probably supported by the closing of stop-losses and sales of foreign currency by the population close to the psychological mark of 55 USD/RUB," analysts at Rosbank said in note.
Russian stock indexes were mixed, largely reflecting the impact of the stronger rouble which raises stock prices in dollar terms but lowers them in rouble terms.
The rouble-based MICEX index was down 0.8 percent at 1,682 points while the dollar-based RTS was up 0.6 percent at 977 points.
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