Russian rouble slips again vs dollar in early trade

The Russian rouble slipped further against the dollar on Thursday, touching new three-week lows after a brief respite in the previous session on news of planned increased forex sales by the central bank. Persistent strong forex demand from importers has weighed on the rouble, outweighing support from high oil prices, with benchmark Brent crude still above $90. Traders said this partly reflected a time lag between the sale of Russian oil on foreign markets and the receipt of forex earnings on the local market, though some expect the higher oil price to start feeding through and helping the rouble.