Russian rouble eases as market braces for another rate hike

MOSCOW, Oct 27 (Reuters) - The Russian rouble eased past 94 to the dollar on Friday, giving up some of this week's hefty gains as the market looked ahead to the central bank's meeting, at which it is widely expected to hike interest rates again under stubborn inflation pressure.

Analysts polled by Reuters expect the Bank of Russia to raise its benchmark rate by 100 basis points to 14% later on Friday and give another hawkish signal to the market, as it tries rein in accelerating inflation exacerbated by the rouble's weakness.

At 0805 GMT, the rouble was 0.3% weaker against the dollar at 94.19, pulling away from 92.7350, its strongest point since Sept. 12, hit on Wednesday.

It was unchanged at 99.56 versus the euro and shed 0.5% against the yuan to 12.85.

The central bank will announce its rate decision at 1030 GMT and Governor Elvira Nabiullina will shed more light on monetary policy and other issues at a news conference at 1200 GMT.

Households' inflationary expectations dropped marginally in October to 11.2%, data showed this week, but not significantly enough to impact the central bank's thinking and they remain still well above the 4% target, said CentroCreditBank economist Yevgeny Suvorov.

"Inflation expectations remain at a historically high level," Suvorov said. "We believe that a slight decrease in inflation expectations in October will not be a weighty argument for the central bank when making a decision on the rate."

Month-end tax payments, due on Oct. 30, that usually see exporters convert foreign exchange (FX) revenues to pay domestic liabilities have supported the rouble in recent days.

Additionally, President Vladimir Putin's decree on mandatory FX sales came into force last week, requiring 43 groups of exporters to repatriate 80% of FX revenues and then sell 90% of that sum.

The rouble has strengthened from beyond 100 to the dollar since the decree was announced.

Brent crude oil, a global benchmark for Russia's main export, was up 1.6% at $89.35 a barrel. (Reporting by Reuters Writing by Alexander Marrow Editing by Mark Potter)