Oil prices, local economic optimism propel Russia stocks higher

MOSCOW, Apr 5 (PRIME) – Higher oil prices and optimism about the future of the economy demonstrated by government officials helped Russian stocks to grow on Wednesday, analysts said.

The MICEX rose 1.51% to 2,056.32 and the RTS increased 1.45% to 1,152.49.

Irina Rogova, an analyst at Forex Club group of companies, said that the Russian index was supported by a positive background on the world markets -- futures for U.S. and Asian indices mostly grew, while the key factor that supported the upward movement was oil, whose price hit monthly highs.

“Oil is close to $55, and optimistic statements were made at the exchange forum in Moscow. President Vladimir Putin thinks that the Russian market has a good growth potential, and Economic Development Minister Maxim Oreshkin said that the economy of the country entered a cycle of robust growth,” Andrei Kochetkov, an analyst at Otkritie Broker, said.

Sofya Kirsanova, an analyst at managing company Raiffeisen Capital, said that shares of coal producers grew today on the back of higher prices for coal. Metals and mining group Mechel rose 3.65% to 163 rubles and Raspadskaya increased 2.13% to 74 rubles.

Igor Kovalyov, an analyst at InstaForex, said that shares of the Moscow Exchange grew 1.58% to 116.15 rubles in reaction to a recent report saying that total trade volumes of the exchange rose by 14.2% on the year and 33.4% on the month in March.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	+2.81	168.10	9.624
Gazprom	+1.46	130.69	4.497
Rosneft	+1.96	338.20	1.951
Lukoil	+0.23	3057.00	1.642
Moscow Exchange	+1.58	116.15	1.260

(56.5553 rubles – U.S. $1)

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