woman holds russian roubles in front of us dollar banknotes in this illustration taken may 30 2022 reutersdado ruvicillustration moscow aug 24 reuters  the rouble eased on wednesday but still traded near 60 against the dollar as it retained some support from monthend tax payments that prompt exportfocused firms to step up conversion of foreign currency while stock indexes inched lower at 0737 gmt the rouble was 03 weaker against the dollar at 6010 and eased 02 to 5969 to the euro  the dollarrouble pair has been in a relatively narrow 5761 range for almost a month and a half the rouble has stopped strengthening and the pair seems to have momentarily reached a supply and demand equilibrium said mikhail biryukov chief analyst at alfa capital yeartodate the rouble has become the worlds bestperforming currency as a result of capital controls that russia imposed after beginning what it calls a special military operation in ukraine on feb 24 rouble volatility has subsided after wild swings that saw it hit a record low of 12153 to the dollar on the moscow exchange in march and then rally to a sevenyear peak of 5001 in june russias economy has avoided the meltdown many predicted after moscow sent its forces into ukraine six months ago with higher prices for its oil exports cushioning the impact of western sanctions but hardships are emerging for some russians read more on the stock market the dollardenominated rts index irts shed 09 to 11795 points the roublebased moex russian index imoex was 05 lower at 22488 points the market will pare some of its heavy 2022 losses by the end of the year and the moex index will climb to 2500 points a reuters poll showed on wednesday read more to reach the level the index needs to break through a technical resistance level of 2270 points sinara investment bank said