MOSCOW, May 20 (Reuters) - The rouble climbed to a more

than two-month high against the dollar on Monday, supported by

the Russian state's increased foreign currency sales this month

and capital controls that prop up the Russian currency.

By 1146 GMT, the rouble was 0.4% higher at

90.55 to the dollar, earlier reaching 90.3875, its strongest

point since March 7.

Against the euro, the rouble gained 0.3% to

98.40 and gained 0.7% to 12.49 against the yuan

.

Capital controls introduced by presidential decree in

October 2023 require dozens of undisclosed exporting firms to

deposit a high percentage of foreign currency earnings with

Russian banks and then sell most of those proceeds on the

domestic market. The controls were extended by a year at the end

of April.

The state's overall forex sales were sharply increased to

6.3 billion roubles ($69.57 million) a day in May from 0.6

billion roubles a day in the previous month, further buttressing

the Russian currency.

Brent crude oil, a global benchmark for Russia's

main export, fell 0.2% to $83.79 a barrel.

Russian stock indexes were mixed. The dollar-denominated RTS

index rose 0.1% to 1,185.0. The rouble-based MOEX

Russian index fell 0.5% to 3,463.9.

($1 = 90.5550 roubles)