Aug 26 Reuters The Russian rouble opened flat in trading on Friday as monthend tax payments by exporters helped keep the currency hovering around the benchmark 60level against the U.S. dollar.

The Russian currency was unchanged against the dollar at 60.13 at 0723 GMT, and had slipped 0.3 against the euro to trade at 59.74.

The rouble has been the world39;s best performing currency this year, buoyed by emergency capital controls rolled out by the central bank in a bid to halt a mass selloff.

Analysts said monthend tax payments, which usually see Russia39;s exporters converting their foreign currency earnings into roubles to pay to the treasury, was supporting the rouble this week.

Russian stock indexes saw more movement, with the dollardenominated RTS index shedding 0.5 in the first minutes of trading in Moscow, dipping to 1,177.1 points. The roublebased MOEX Russian index was flat at 2,246.2 points.

There were few drivers of movement for either the Russian currency or stocks expected on Friday, Zarina Saidova, an analyst at the Moscowbased Finam brokerage said.

Trading volumes are very low due to the holiday season. Meanwhile, the external background is not so bad optimism prevails in the U.S. and European markets, she said, adding markets were largely on pause as they await comments by U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell at Jackson Hole later today.

Source Reuters