Russian rouble flat versus US dollar after central bank's forex sales announcement

MOSCOW, June 27 (Reuters) - The Russian rouble traded flat against the U.S. dollar and was slightly lower against the Chinese yuan on Friday, following the central bank's move to slightly raise its forex purchases for the second half of the year.

By 1335 GMT, the rouble RUB= traded at 78.37 per U.S. dollar, according to LSEG data based on over-the-counter quotes. The Russian currency is up by about 45% against the dollar since the start of the year.

The Russian central bank said on June 26 that it will increase its foreign currency sales to 8.94 billion roubles ($113.53 million) a day from July 1 for the rest of the year, compared with 8.86 billion roubles previously.

Alfa Bank's analysts said that continued sales of the foreign currency by the regulator will limit the potential weakening of the rouble, which is widely expected by markets. Most analysts believe that the rouble is currently overvalued.

Against the Chinese yuan, the most traded foreign currency in Russia, the rouble traded at 10.96 per yuan, down by 0.3% on the Moscow Stock Exchange.