MOSCOW: The Russian rouble held steady ahead of testimony from U.S. Federal Reserve chief Jerome Powell later on Wednesday.
At 0730 GMT, the rouble was 0.1% stronger against the dollar at 63.8 but flat versus the euro at 71.6 .
Traders are betting the Fed chief will try to nuance his message to signal a quarter point cut later this month rather than the 50 basis point move some had bet on before last week's relatively upbeat U.S. payrolls report.
Any rate cut in the United States should boost demand for emerging market assets, such as the rouble and Russia's OFZ treasury bonds.
"Powell is likely to stick with the message of "acting appropriately" to ensure the continuation of U.S. economic expansion, which is now the longest on record," VTB Capital analysts said in a note.
"Strong data on the (U.S.) labour market last week has somewhat reduced the likelihood of a sharp decline in interest rates," said Mikhail Poddubsky, an analyst at Promsvyazbank.
Rising oil prices underpinned the Russian currency.
Still, the rouble remained under pressure from dividend payments due this month - shareholders who receive them tend to convert the roubles they get into dollars, euros or other currencies.
Russian stock indexes were down. The dollar-denominated RTS index was down 0.3% to 1,390 points. The rouble-based MOEX Russian index was 0.2% lower at 2,817 points.
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