Hopes of UK staying with EC, oil price rise support Russian stocks

MOSCOW, Jun 23 (PRIME) -- Russian stocks grew on Thursday supported by exit polls ahead of the Brexit referendum in the U.K. showing that most Britons favored staying in the E.C. and by growing oil prices, analysts said.

The MICEX rose 1.19% to 1,919.27 and the RTS increased 1.49% to 941.11.

“Although we will receive the first official data only on Friday, results of exit polls were enough for investors to restart purchases. Russian stocks did not remain on the sidelines and launched an upward correction after recent falls,” Andrei Dirgin, head of the research department at Alfa-Forex, said.

European markets remained in the green zone, and the positive news flow together with the rising oil price provided participants of the Russian market with a reason for purchases, Andrei Kochetkov, an analyst at Otkritie Broker, said.

The Bren oil price rose 0.697% to U.S. $50.23 per barrel as of 6.00 p.m. Moscow time, according to the ICE exchange.

“After a disappointing start, Russian stock indices switched to the green zone in line with the European floors. Risky assets are growing worldwide on hopes that the E.U. will keep its integrity after today’s referendum in the E.U.,” Igor Kovalyov, an analyst at InstaForex group of companies, said.

The central bank has improved its inflation forecast to 5–6% in 2016, which had a positive impact on the financial sector. Shares of top bank Sberbank and the country’s second largest bank VTB went up 2.37% to 138.00 rubles and 0.72% to 0.0695 rubles, Kochetkov said.

Shares of hydropower giant RusHydro rose only 0.12% to 0.6027 rubles after its former CEO Yevgeny Dod and former Chief Accountant Dmitry Finkel had been detained and charged with swindling, Kovalyov said.

Below are the MICEX’ five most active stocks on Thursday:

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	+2.37	138.00	7.546
Gazprom	+0.84	144.20	2.847
Lukoil	+2.63	2730.00	2.183
Rosneft	+3.03	348.00	1.640
MTS	-1.23	249.90	1.489

(63.7162 rubles – U.S. $1)

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