MOSCOW, July 11 (Reuters) - The Russian rouble strengthened slightly against the dollar on Thursday, helped by a rise in oil prices.

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)