MOSCOW: The Russian rouble firmed slightly towards 58 to the dollar and the euro on Thursday, lacking momentum but retaining support from Russia’s strong current account surplus and the upcoming tax payment period.

The rouble is set to see extra support later this month as export-focused companies usually step up conversion of their forex revenues to meet local liabilities. Tax payments start on Friday and the bulk of payments are due in the last week of July.

At 0748 GMT, the rouble was 0.3% stronger against the dollar at 58.07 and had gained 1.5% to trade at 58.22 versus the euro on the Moscow Exchange.

The rouble is expected to reach the 56-58 range to the dollar as there are no clear factors able to reverse the trend for the stronger rouble, Promsvyazbank analysts said in a note.