Ruble weakens in volatile trade before Putin speech

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's ruble weakened against the dollar and euro in volatile trade on Thursday, reversing gains made at market opening, before President Vladimir Putin's end-of-year news conference.

At 0822 GMT (3.22 a.m. EST), the ruble was around 3 percent weaker against the dollar at 61.92 after opening more than 1 percent higher. The ruble was also around 2 percent weaker versus the euro at 76.49 .

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.

(Reporting by Alexander Winning, editing by Elizabeth Piper)