*

Rouble also weakens against yuan, most traded foreign

currency

in Russia

*

US imposed more sanctions on Russia on Friday

*

Finance ministry announcement on Friday supported the

rouble

(Adds forex interventions in paragraph 5-9, analyst quote in

paragraph 11, bullet points)

MOSCOW, Jan 13 (Reuters) - The Russian rouble eased

against the U.S. dollar and China's yuan on Monday as rising oil

prices and increased forex sales by the state cushioned the

impact of new U.S. sanctions designed to curb Russia's oil and

gas revenue.

The rouble was down 0.7% at 102.45 against the dollar

by 1000 GMT, over-the-counter market data showed. The rouble

weakened 0.8% to 13.81 against the yuan in trading on the Moscow

Stock Exchange (MOEX).

The yuan has become the most traded foreign currency in

Russia, with China using it to pay for energy imports from

Russia.

The U.S. Treasury on Jan. 10 imposed sanctions on Russian

oil producers Gazprom Neft and Surgutneftegaz, as well as 183

vessels that have shipped Russian oil. Oil prices have since

risen above $81 a barrel, the highest in more than four months.

The rouble drew support from an announcement by the Finance

Ministry on Friday that implied net forex sales by the state

would rise by almost one third to 4.76 billion roubles ($46.42

million) per day from Jan. 15.

Under a complex scheme of foreign currency operations, the

central bank buys and sells forex to ensure supply on the

domestic market and to act on behalf of the finance ministry,

which runs the rainy day National Wealth Fund (NWF).

The central bank cannot buy and sell dollars and euros

because of Western sanctions, making the yuan the clear choice

for forex interventions.

The central bank propped up the rouble last December by

deferring purchases of foreign currency on behalf of the finance

ministry. The rouble touched its lowest in around 2-1/2 years in

November in response to the previous U.S. sanctions package.

It has since regained some of the lost ground and stabilised

at around 100 to the U.S. dollar, a level seen as a new

equilibrium by the market.

Analysts said expectations of Russia-U.S. talks, flagged by

the incoming administration, also supported the rouble.

"Geopolitics will remain the key factor influencing the

rouble's exchange rate in the near future," T-Bank analysts

said.

One-day rouble/dollar futures, which trade on MOEX and are a

guide for the over-the-counter exchange rate, were up 0.5% at

103.53. The Russian central bank set the official exchange rate

at 101.91.

($1 = 102.5500 roubles)