MOSCOW, May 16 (Reuters) - The Russian rouble slightly

strengthened against the U.S. dollar on Thursday.

By 0720 GMT, the rouble was 0.04% higher at

91.05 to the dollar after trading in a range of 90.895 to

91.234.

Against the euro, the rouble fell 0.18%

to 99.04 and was down 0.08% to 12.58 against the yuan

.

Brent crude oil, a global benchmark for Russia's

main export, was 0.35% higher at $83.04 a barrel.

Russian stock indexes rose. The dollar-denominated RTS index

increased 0.39% to 1,205.16. The rouble-based MOEX

Russian index gained 0.33% to 3,482.20.