MOSCOW, May 24 (Reuters) - The Russian rouble slightly

strengthened against the U.S. dollar on Friday.

By 0715 GMT, the rouble was 0.16% higher at

89.87 to the dollar after trading in a range of 89.810 to

90.770.

Against the euro, the rouble rose 0.35%

to 97.28 and gained 0.36% to 12.35 against the yuan

.

Brent crude oil, a global benchmark for Russia's

main export, was flat at $81.32 a barrel.

Russian stock indexes fell. The dollar-denominated RTS index

fell 0.01% to 1,204.72. The rouble-based MOEX Russian

index lost 0.16% to 3,437.34.

($1 = 89.8725 roubles)