MOSCOW: The Russian rouble remained flat for a second consecutive day on Friday ahead of a meeting at the weekend between the U.S. and Chinese presidents as their countries are embroiled in a trade war that has rattled financial markets.
At 0710 GMT, the rouble was unchanged against the dollar at 63.08 and had lost 0.1% to trade at 71.79 versus the euro.
"The Russian market is likely to remain in a holding pattern until Monday, until the market gets clarity on the outcome of the trade talks between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping on Saturday," Alfa Bank said of the leaders' meeting at the G20 summit in Japan.
The Sino-U.S. trade war has driven emerging market equities and currencies down and has fanned fears of slowing global economic growth.
Oil prices, which generally support the rouble, eased on Friday as traders awaited any update on the trade war and eyed next week's OPEC gathering.
Russian stock indexes were steady.
The dollar-denominated RTS index was unchanged 1,387 points, while the rouble-based MOEX Russian index remained flat at 2,779 points.
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