Oil price rise propels Russian stocks higher

MOSCOW, Nov 21 (PRIME) -- Russian stocks grew on Monday on support from the oil market, where prices soared, analysts said.

The MICEX rose 1.00% to 2,058.77 and the RTS increased 2.43% to 1,014.88.

“Today, purchases prevailed in Russian assets. The dynamics of the energy market became the reason for the positive mood,” Bogdan Zvarich, an analyst at investment company Finam, said.

According to data of the ICE exchange, the Brent oil price increased 2.78% to U.S. $48.20 per barrel as of 5.54 p.m. Moscow time.

Vitaly Manzhos, a senior analyst at Bank Obrazovanie, also said that the local market grew thanks to higher oil prices. “OPEC members continue to assure the crude market with promises of an upcoming agreement…In addition to that, President Vladimir Putin said that Russia is ready to freeze its oil production at the current level,” Manzhos said.

Yegor Dakhtler, an analyst at investment company Veles Capital, said that besides the oil price, the Russian market was also supported by the recovery of the world stock indices, which provided a positive background for the local market during the day.

Manzhos also said that common and preferred shares of metals and mining group Mechel grew 9.19% and 4.68%, respectively, on expectations that the company may successfully settle its debt problems and due to a strong mid-term increase of prices for coking coal.

Territorial Generating Company-1 (TGC-1) went up 4.69%, hitting their four-year record thanks to a strong financial performance, as its net profit rose 67% on the year to 6.746 billion rubles in January–September, as calculated under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), Manzhos said.

Shares of mobile operator MegaFon fell 1.72% following their exclusion from the MSCI Russia index, Manzhos added.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	+1.97	153.00	6.103
Gazprom	+1.80	149.60	3.896
Rosneft	+1.05	340.55	1.218
Lukoil	+1.38	3127.00	1.204
ALROSA	-0.87	87.75	1.012

(65.1023 rubles – U.S. $1)

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