MOSCOW, March 6 (Reuters) - The Russian rouble firmed to

a one-month high against the dollar on Wednesday, ahead of two

treasury bond auctions by the finance ministry and as the market

looked ahead to congressional testimony from U.S. Federal

Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

At 0742 GMT, the rouble was 0.1% stronger against the dollar

at 90.40, its strongest since Feb. 6.

"The dollar-rouble pair is moving towards the lower boundary

of the 90-92.5 range, but it is unlikely to consolidate below

this support, given the approaching long weekend," Alor Broker's

Alexei Antonov said.

The Russian market will be closed on Friday for

International Women's Day.

The rouble had gained 0.5% to trade at 98.21 versus the euro

and firmed 0.4% against the yuan to 12.51

.

The Russian currency has now lost the support of month-end

tax payments that usually see exporters convert foreign currency

revenues to meet local liabilities. March tax payments are set

to be almost double those of February, according to Sber

Investments.

Brent crude oil, a global benchmark for Russia's

main export, was up 0.4% at $82.38 a barrel.

Russian stock indexes were mixed.

The dollar-denominated RTS index was steady 1,148.2

points. The rouble-based MOEX Russian index was 0.2%

lower at 3,295.0 points.

For Russian equities guide see

For Russian treasury bonds see