The Russian rouble dipped on Tuesday, tracking slightly lower oil prices ahead of key policy decisions by the European Central Bank on Thursday and Russia's own central bank on Friday. Brent crude oil, a global benchmark for Russia's main export, was down 0.31 percent at $57.19 a barrel. The dollar-denominated RTS index opened lower, sliding by 0.34 percent to 1,127.100 points, while the rouble-based MICEX was 0.09 percent down at 2,062.16 points. The European Central Bank is expected to signal on Thursday that it will take small steps away from an ultra-easy monetary policy stance that has long underpinned bond yields. For rouble poll data see reuters://realtime/verb=Open/url=cpurl://apps.cp./Apps/fx-polls?RIC=RUB=For Russian equities guide seeFor Russian treasury bonds seeRussia in graphics: http://link.reuters.com/dun63s (Reporting by Vladimir Abramov; Writing by Dmitry Solovyov; Editing by Andrew Osborn)

Source: Times of India October 24, 2017 08:15 UTC