MOEX Russia Index rises as investors buy oversold shares

MOSCOW, Mar 24 (PRIME) -- The MOEX Russia Index grew on Thursday, the first trading session after a month of suspension, as investors rushed to buy the oversold shares supported by high commodity prices, while the RTS Index fell on ruble devaluation against the U.S. dollar, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index rose 4.37% to 2,578.51 and the RTS decreased 9.00% to 852.64.

BCS World of Investment said in a research note that the market was supported by the Finance Ministry’s intention to buy stocks, potential company buybacks, the increase of the ruble price of raw materials exports, and the market wish to protect money from inflation.

The shares of exporters -- agricultural holding PhosAgro, oil company Tatneft, gold producer Polyus, oil major Rosneft, diamond mining giant ALROSA -- led the market.

VTB Bank and national flagship carrier Aeroflot were among the loss leaders, BCS World of Investment said.

Alor Broker senior analyst Alexei Antonov said that there will be two main drivers for the Russian market in the next few days: a jump in the raw materials prices and expectations of purchases of many shares with 1 trillion rubles from the National Wealth Fund. With an oil price of U.S. $120 per barrel, the Russian oil sector is very attractive, Antonov said.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	+3.90	136.24	22.692
Gazprom	+13.38	258.51	22.512
Norilsk Nickel	+10.17	20990.00	6.875
Lukoil	+12.41	5525.00	6.814
Rosneft	+16.97	360.20	6.642

(103.1618 rubles – U.S. $1)

End %%md/jst%%