MOSCOW, June 19 (Reuters) - The Russian rouble climbed

to one-year highs against the dollar and yuan in low liquidity

on Wednesday, as the market continued to adjust to last week's

U.S. sanctions on key financial systems that led to a halt in

dollar and euro trading.

The sanctions on Moscow Exchange and its clearing

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

varying prices and spreads as trading moved 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 and

major Russian banks that have been sanctioned cannot

participate, the rouble traded 3.3% higher by 0823 GMT against

the dollar at 82.50, its strongest since June 2023.

The average dollar-rouble mixed composite rate, calculated

by LSEG and based on data from international brokers and

counterparties, was at 83.28.

An indication of the wide spreads, the difference between

buying and selling prices, was the central bank's official

dollar-rouble rate set at 87.03 for Wednesday, calculated based

on OTC trading.

The rouble has strengthened sharply since the sanctions were

imposed amid low liquidity, largely caused by various technical

difficulties to do with interbank limits when closing FX deals

on the OTC market.

Market imbalance is skewed in favour of FX sellers due to

restrictions imposed by banks and brokers following the

sanctions, creating problems in withdrawing and using funds,

helping to strengthen the rouble.

Against the yuan, the rouble rose 1.7% to 11.26, earlier

reaching its strongest since May 2023, 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.

Yuan-denominated export proceeds support the rouble against

the Chinese currency. The Bank of Russia's foreign currency

sales in yuan, currently at the equivalent of 8.1 billion

roubles daily, also favour the rouble.

"The new sanctions package is likely to increase pressure on

imports, which are the basis for foreign currency demand," said

Promsvyazbank analysts, forecasting the rouble to strengthen

further against the yuan, which may lead the central bank to

reduce yuan sales going forward.

Brent crude oil, a global benchmark for Russia's

main export, was down 0.5% at $84.94 a barrel, near early-May

highs.