MOSCOW: The rouble edged lower on Wednesday, easing towards the 62 mark against the dollar ahead of three planned OFZ treasury bond auctions by the finance ministry, while Russia’s benchmark stock index climbed to a one-month high.

At 0802 GMT, the rouble was 0.1% weaker against the dollar at 61.52 and had lost 0.5% to trade at 61.80 versus the euro. It had shed 0.7% against the yuan to 8.47.

The rouble has been buttressed in recent sessions by a month-end tax period when export-focused firms convert foreign exchange revenues into roubles to pay domestic tax liabilities.

Part of that support ended on Tuesday.

Rouble edges lower as end of tax payments period approaches

The finance ministry has made a stuttering return to the domestic debt market, but successfully held two bond auctions last week and will issue another three papers later on Wednesday as it seeks to raise 150 billion roubles ($2.44 billion) this quarter.

Russian stock indexes gained. The rouble-based MOEX Russian index was 0.1% higher at 2,133.6 points, its highest point since Sept. 23.

The dollar-denominated RTS index was up 0.3% to 1,094.2 points, a three-week high.

Analysts from Sinara Investment Bank said reinvested dividends from Gazprom were supporting the market and had led to trading volumes around 20% higher in the previous session.