Oil factor drives Russian stocks higher again

MOSCOW, Feb 18 (PRIME) -- Russian stocks increased on Thursday, supported by rising oil prices and a strong ruble, analysts said.

The MICEX rose 2.08% to 1,807.21 and the RTS increased 2.32% to 752.89.

“The main reason for optimism was a further growth of oil prices. The Brent price is trying to consolidate above U.S. $35, and if it succeeds, it may rise to $36.75 and $37.60 in the future,” Andrei Dirgin, the head of the analytical department at Alfa-Forex, said.

The dollar-denominated RTS was also backed by a strong ruble, which was supported by rising oil prices and the beginning of a new tax period, Dirgin said.

Vitaly Manzhos, a senior analyst at Bank Obrazovanie, said that the confirmation by Standard & Poor of Russia’s rating in foreign currency at BB+ and a downgrade of some other oil producing states, like Saudi Arabia, Oman, Bahrain and Brazil, also backed the Russian stock market.

Igor Kovalyov, an analyst at InstaForex, said that after the U.S. Federal Reserve System released the minutes of a Federal Open Market Committee’s recent meeting on Wednesday, market participants believed that a planned rise of the U.S. key rate may be postponed further that supported risky assets, including Russian stocks.

The financial sector was backed by the ruble rise: top lender Sberbank rose 3.53% to 102.70 rubles and second-largest bank VTB went up 3.13% to 0.07355 rubles.

Oil producers’ shares grew on the back of rising oil quotations. Lukoil rose 3.97% to 2,565 rubles.

Fertilizer producer Uralkali fell 1.54% to 160.35 rubles amid worsening conditions on the global market for mineral fertilizers, Manzhos said. India suspended purchases of potassium due to a drought, and Belarusian Potash Company said that its exports are likely to fall by 30% on the year in January–March.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	+3.53	102.70	12.733
Gazprom	+0.66	138.00	4.416
Lukoil	+3.97	2565.00	3.752
Magnit	+3.18	10318.00	2.690
Norilsk Nickel	+2.86	8880.00	2.682

(77.8503 rubles – U.S. $1)

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