MOSCOW (Dow Jones)--The Russian ruble saw some rare strength Monday on hopes that European policy makers are making headway in their efforts to contain a sovereign debt crisis in their region, although traders said they are still hesitant to bet on the currency at these levels. "There's a bit of optimism regarding Europe now, and that's giving the ruble a boost," said Stanislav Jureshevichus, head of trading at ING in Moscow. "But it could all be reversed fairly quickly on any bad news." The ruble strengthened 0.5% against the dollar to RUB31.35, only its second advance on the greenback since Nov. 11. It ticked up around 1% against a basket of dollars and euros as well, to RUB36.08. Fears of a worsening euro-zone crisis have hammered the ruble in November, with the currency losing nearly 4% since the start of the month. The currency's weakness has come amid a flood of capital outflow, with the central bank recently raising its target for year-end capital flight to $70 billion from a previous forecast of $36 billion. Some $64 billion has already fled the country in the first 10 months of the year. Traders said part of the Monday's strength came from from exporters, who are selling dollars and euros and buying rubles in order to make end of the month tax payments. The ruble is "not attractive at these levels, but may be a buy around RUB31.50 to RUB31.70 against the dollar," Jarushevichus said. -By Ira Iosebashvili, Dow Jones Newswires; +7 495 232-9192; ira.iosebashvili@dowjones.com

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