MOSCOW: The Russian ruble was little changed against the dollar early on Friday, as global oil prices remained steady and traders monitored dollar sales by Russian exporters ahead of the peak of end-of-month tax payments next week.
At 0716 GMT, the ruble was 0.03 percent stronger against the dollar at 58.92 and had lost 0.2 percent to trade at 68.70 versus the euro.
Oil prices held steady on Friday, with Brent crude oil, a global benchmark for Russia’s main export, trading at around $49.29 a barrel.
Russian share indexes were down.
The dollar-denominated RTS index was down 0.6 percent to 1,032.460 points, while the ruble-based MICEX was 0.8 percent lower at 1,930.55 points.
