MOSCOW (Reuters) - The ruble and Moscow shares rose on Thursday, buoyed by state action and indications Russia's top oil producer can meet a debt repayment, before President Vladimir Putin's end-of-year news conference.
At 0800 GMT (3 a.m. EST), the ruble was 2.1 percent firmer against the dollar at 58.75
Putin will hold his press conference at 0900 GMT (4 a.m. EST), with the market hoping to hear support for the ruble, which has fallen around 45 percent against the dollar so far this year.
"We are expecting verbal interventions today during Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin's speech," Gleb Zadoya, head analyst at Profit Group in Moscow, wrote in a note.
"We will again be taught that things are not so bad, that our economy can do without imports that are banned and that the ruble's rate will soon stabilize."
The market was also supported on Thursday by a rise in oil prices, additional measures by the central bank to ensure financial stability and a statement that Russia's top oil producer is able to meet a debt repayment.
Some economists saw optimism in the ruble's firming over the past two sessions.
"We stick to the view that it is only the beginning of the ruble's recovery: We expect to see continued government support for the economy and financial markets, while exporters' foreign exchange selling activity is also set to pick up in the coming days," analysts at VTB Capital wrote in a morning note.
Russian shares also rose, with the dollar-traded RTS index <.IRTS> up 5.9 percent to 761 points and the ruble-based MICEX <.MCX> trading 1.0 percent higher at 1,426 points.
Shares in Russian business conglomerate Sistema
(Reporting by Lidia Kelly and Alexander Winning; Writing by Lidia Kelly, editing by Elizabeth Piper)