MOSCOW, July 11 (Reuters) - The Russian rouble

strengthened slightly against the dollar on Thursday, helped by

a rise in oil prices.

By 0730 GMT, the rouble was 0.6% higher at 87.80

against the dollar.

Sanctions on Moscow Exchange and its clearing

agent, the National Clearing Centre, led to varying prices and

spreads as trading shifted to the over-the-counter market on

June 14, obscuring access to reliable pricing for the Russian

currency.

"Today, we expect the rouble to try and recover some of the

losses of previous sessions, helped by the improving situation

in oil prices," said Bogdan Zvarich, chief analyst at Banki.ru.

"However, we should not expect significant growth of the

national currency, given weak support from exporters."

Against the yuan, which had already become the most-traded

foreign currency in Moscow before the latest sanctions were

imposed, the rouble weakened 0.4% to 12.03, according to an

analysis of the OTC market.

It was down 0.1% at 95.74 against the euro.

Brent crude oil, a global benchmark for Russia's

main export, was up 0.6% at $85.58 a barrel as oil stocks fell

as U.S. refineries ramped up processing and gasoline inventories

eased, signalling stronger demand.

(Reporting by Gleb Bryanski; Editing by Arun Koyyur)