MOSCOW, June 24 (Reuters) - The rouble strengthened on

Monday, paring some of the heavy losses sustained at the end of

last week, as the impact of U.S. sanctions that led to an

exchange trading halt of dollars and euros in Moscow continued

to reverberate through Russian markets.

Sanctions on Moscow Exchange and its clearing

agent, the National Clearing Centre (NCC), have led to a range

of varying prices and spreads as trading shifted to the over-the

counter (OTC) market on June 14, obscuring access to reliable

pricing for the Russian currency.

On the interbank market, where liquidity can be low as major

Russian banks that have been sanctioned cannot participate, the

rouble traded 1.3% higher at 87.90 by 0837 GMT against

the dollar.

The average dollar-rouble mixed composite rate, calculated

by LSEG and based on data from international brokers and

counterparties, stood at 88.03, demonstrating the wide

spreads - the difference between buying and selling prices - now

available.

The central bank's official dollar-rouble rate was set at

87.96 for June 22, calculated on the basis of OTC trading.

The rouble strengthened sharply after the sanctions were

imposed amid low liquidity, caused by various technical

difficulties to do with interbank limits when closing FX deals

on the OTC market and as traders closed foreign currency

positions.

Against the yuan, the rouble gained 0.9% to 11.94, according

to an analysis of the OTC market.

The yuan had surpassed the dollar to become the most traded

currency with the rouble in Moscow before last week's sanctions

were imposed. It accounted for a 54% share of the FX market in

May.

The rouble has eased from one-year highs reached in mid-June

since the government softened capital controls that have been

supporting the rouble since October. The volume of foreign

currency revenue that exporters must convert into roubles was

reduced to 60% from 80%.

Month-end tax payments that usually see exporters convert FX

revenues to meet local liabilities also support the rouble.

Brent crude oil, a global benchmark for Russia's

main export, was up 0.1% at $85.32 a barrel.