MOSCOW, March 5 (Reuters) - The Russian rouble steadied

near 91 to the dollar on Tuesday, while shares in leading lender

Sberbank surged to a more than two-year high.

At 0744 GMT, the rouble was unchanged against the dollar at

91.28 and had gained 0.2% to trade at 99.01

versus the euro. It had firmed 0.1% against the

yuan to 12.64.

The rouble has now lost support of month-end tax payments

that usually see exporters convert foreign currency revenues to

meet local liabilities.

Brent crude oil, a global benchmark for Russia's

main export, was down 0.4% at $82.49 a barrel.

Russian stock indexes were lower.

The dollar-denominated RTS index was down 0.2% to

1,135.0 points. The rouble-based MOEX Russian index was

0.3% lower at 3,286.9 points.

Shares in dominant lender Sberbank climbed past

the 300 roubles per share mark in early trade to reach their

highest since early January 2022.

Alor Broker's Alexei Antonov said the market is expecting a

pre-dividend rally from Sberbank shares. The bank expects to pay

50% of last year's record profits in dividends.

For Russian equities guide see

For Russian treasury bonds see