Blue chips’ explosive growth pushes Russian stocks upwards

MOSCOW, Jun 3 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market edged up with high trading volumes on Monday supported by an explosive growth of blue chips including gas giant Gazprom and top lender Sberbank, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index grew 2.42% to 2,729.93 and the RTS rose 2.19% to 1,315.22.

“The MOEX Russia Index and the RTS closed in the positive territory thanks to growing blue chips and an improving external background,” Veles Broker analyst Yelena Kozhukhova said.

Gazprom’s stock was among the top gainers adding almost 10% to 235.51 rubles on expectations of high dividends and rumors on the possibility of a management reshuffle, she added.

Sberbank common shares surged 2.88% to 239.95 rubles ahead of a record date for dividends.

Otkritie Broker analyst Andrei Kochetkov said that investor activity was extremely high and almost reached 100 billion rubles.

Aluminum producer UC RUSAL lost 0.99% to 23.465 ruble as the possibility of a slowdown of the global economy in light of escalating trade wars means a future fall in demand for aluminum, the analyst also said.

Below are the MOEX Russia Index’s five most active stocks on Monday:

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Gazprom	9.49	235.51	50.831
Sberbank common	2.88	239.95	19.849
Lukoil	-0.27	5254.5	4.673
Rosneft	1.36	438.9	2.600
Sberbank preferred	2.82	211.3	2.276

(65.3834 rubles – U.S. $1)

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