MOSCOW, March 5 (Reuters) - The Russian rouble soared to

a near one-month high against the dollar on Tuesday, boosted by

state foreign currency sales, while shares in leading lender

Sberbank surged to a more than two-year high.

By 1630 GMT, the rouble was 0.8% stronger against the dollar

at 90.52, its strongest point since Feb. 9. It

had gained 0.5% to trade at 98.65 versus the euro

and firmed 0.8% against the yuan to 12.56.

The rouble has now lost the support of month-end tax

payments that usually see exporters convert foreign currency

revenues to meet local liabilities.

But total tax payments by exporters in March are set to be

almost double those of February at 2 trillion roubles ($22.07

billion), said Sber Investments strategist Yury Popov,

predicting that the rouble may temporarily strengthen to 87.5-88

to the dollar towards the end of the month.

Net foreign currency sales of around 7 billion roubles a day

will continue to support the rouble in the month ahead. The

finance ministry's decision to increase purchases slightly is

likely to have a limited impact on the rouble, said Dmitry

Polevoy of Astra Asset Management.

Brent crude oil, a global benchmark for Russia's

main export, was down 0.2% at $82.66 a barrel.

Russian stock indexes were higher.

The dollar-denominated RTS index was up 0.9% to

1,147.6 points. The rouble-based MOEX Russian index was

0.1% higher at 3,300.9 points.

Shares in dominant lender Sberbank climbed past

the 300 roubles per share mark in early trade to reach their

highest since early January 2022.

"We are the only company in Russia that has exceeded its

capitalisation level from before the 'special military

operation'," Sberbank CEO German Gref said on Tuesday. "Invest,

guys, before it's too late."

Alor Broker's Alexei Antonov said the market was expecting a

pre-dividend rally from Sberbank shares. The bank expects to pay

50% of last year's record profits in dividends.

For Russian equities guide see

For Russian treasury bonds see

($1 = 90.6350 roubles)