Russian stock market increases on corporate news, rising ruble

MOSCOW, Feb 17 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market increased on Friday on corporate stories and a growing ruble, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index rose 0.69% to 2,168.88 and the RTS increased 1.49% to 920.19.

“The morning negativity connected with falling oil prices and “hawkish” statements of some U.S. Fed representatives… was paid off in the first half of the session. Quotes entered the green sector thanks to some corporate news,” Freedom Finance Global’s Senior Analyst Natalya Milchakova said.

The Russian stock market remained in the positive territory by the end of the main trading session accelerating the increase amid positive ruble dynamics, Veles Broker analyst Yelena Kozhukhova said.

Senior trader at managing company Alfa-Capital Vladislav Silayev said that the attention was drawn to the news that the Finance Ministry could collect about 300 billion rubles to the budget from the corporate profits of companies in 2021–2022 by applying a tax mechanism. The initiative will not apply to the fuel and energy sector, he added.

The largest growth was shown by shares of Unipro which increased on positive 2022 financial results, Kozhukhova said.

The Moscow Exchange’s shares were probably supported by the statements of the central bank’s First Deputy Chairman Vladimir Chistyukhin, Kozhukhova also said. The official said that financial companies should restart paying dividends as usual as soon as possible.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	+0.57	159.12	7.402
Lenzoloto	-22.22	2800	6.381
Kazanorgsintez	+12.78	100.6	3.104
Polyus	+1.16	8525	2.865
Gazprom	+0.03	153.61	1.889

(74.7638 rubles – U.S. $1)

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