On the Moscow Exchange, the Russian rouble firmed in early trade on Thursday, headed towards 62 against the euro, while stock indexes fell, lacking new momentum and trading ideas. At 0735 GMT, the rouble was up 0.2 percent against the dollar, trading at 59.30, and up 0.9 percent against the euro, trading at 62.96, after hitting the 62.11 barrier for the first time since late May.

The rouble has been the best-performing currency in the world this year, thanks to capital controls that have been in place for more than three months, since Moscow pushed tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine on February 24. The rouble had minimal reaction to Russia's decision this week to loosen some capital controls, including raising the cross-border transaction ceiling for individuals and allowing export-oriented corporations to transfer Forex to their overseas accounts under certain conditions.

The central bank is currently the centre of attention, as it prepares to convene a rate-setting meeting on Friday. A rate drop might put downward pressure on the rouble and help OFZ treasury bond prices. As the bank strives to make lending more affordable amid lacklustre consumer demand and a standstill in inflation, the majority of economists surveyed by Reuters forecast a 100-basis-point rate decrease to 10%.

Consumer inflation in Russia fell to 17.10 percent in May from 17.83 percent in April, the highest level since January 2002, according to data released on Wednesday.

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