The Russian rouble rose on Friday, boosted by higher oil prices on world markets and the Russian central bank sticking to its tight monetary policy stance. At 1525 GMT, the rouble was 0.5 percent stronger against the dollar at 67.75 and had gained 0.8 percent to 76.50 versus the euro. Brent crude oil, a global benchmark for Russia's main export, set a new 2016 high on expectations of a production freeze by major exporters and was up 1.2 percent at $42 a barrel by 1525 GMT.
The Russian central bank left its key interest rate at 11 percent on Friday, as expected. But its rhetoric about the need to maintain tight monetary policy was more hawkish than many analysts had expected. "Due to the central bank holding rates the rouble naturally started to strengthen since we got a rather strong combination of a dovish Fed and hawkish CBR," said Denis Korshilov at Citibank in Moscow.
The US Federal Reserve held interest rates steady on Wednesday, but projections showed policymakers expect just two quarter-point hikes by end of 2016 compared to earlier expectations of four hikes. Russian share indexes gained on Friday, also lifted by rising oil prices. The dollar-denominated RTS index was up 1.8 percent to 889 points, while the rouble-based MICEX was 1.2 percent higher at 1,913 points.
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