OREANDA-NEWS. March 24, 2015. The Russian rouble was weaker in early trade on Monday, with a drop in crude prices outweighing higher demand for the currency due to monthly tax payments.

At 0717 GMT, the rouble was around 0.3 percent weaker against the dollar at 59.48 and it was also around 0.1 percent lower at 64.20 versus the euro .

Support for the rouble came from Russian exporters who need to convert their foreign currency revenues in order to pay monthly taxes.

But a drop in oil prices of over one percent weighed, after Saudi Arabia said that the market defined prices and the kingdom would not unilaterally cut its output to defend them.

Analysts said traders lacked strong motives to make big moves, but they remained worried about the conflict in eastern Ukraine.

"The only thing that raises serious concerns is the situation in Ukraine, where at any moment the tension can heighten that could easily send the rouble/dollar pair back to the level of 62.60," Irina Rogova, an analyst at Forex Club, said in an note.

Russian shares opened stronger, with the rouble-based MICEX up 0.1 percent at 1630 points and the dollar-based RTS trading 0.7 percent higher at 868 points.