Aug. 18 (Bloomberg) -- The ruble strengthened against the dollar and euro as crude oil advanced. Russia’s currency gained 1.2 percent to 31.8516 per dollar at 10:43 a.m. in Moscow. The ruble fell 2 percent yesterday. The ruble increased 0.8 percent to 45.0171 per euro. The movements against the dollar and the euro left the ruble up 0.8 percent at 37.8759 against the central bank’s target currency basket, which is used to manage swings that hurt Russian exporters. Crude oil for September delivery rose 29 cents to $67.04 a barrel. The basket is calculated by multiplying the dollar’s rate to the ruble by 0.55, the euro to ruble rate by 0.45, then adding them together. The ruble remains within the 26 to 41 band the central bank pledged Jan. 22 to defend.

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