Russian stocks advance on stable oil prices, St Pete forum news

Moscow, Jun 6 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market edged up on Thursday thanks to a plenty of positive corporate news from the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum and consolidating crude, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index grew 0.98% to 2,728,25 and the RTS rose 1.27% to 1,319.85.

“The Russian stock market surged after a negative opening. The MOEX Russia Index almost reached its all-time highest, and the RTS Index its 15-month record… The benchmarks consolidated at the local highs later in the day,” BCS Broker expert Dmitry Babin said.

The market was largely supported by the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, which is being held from Thursday through Saturday, and expectations of positive corporate news.

Power grid operator Rosseti and power company RusHydro were among the top performers gaining 2.34% to 1.31 rubles and 2.85% to 0.5585 rubles after signing large-scale contract with Chinese companies.

Senior analyst at Promsvyazbank Bogdan Zvarich said the Brent crude price managed to stay above a U.S. $60 per barrel mark and that Russian bulls look strong enough to return the market to growth on minimal improvement of the external background.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank, common	+2.46	244.89	14.957
Gazprom	+0.63	231.45	12.824
Lukoil	+1.05	5156.5	4.105
Norilsk Nickel	+0.57	13850	2.082
Sberbank, preferred	+2.52	216.33	1.953

(65.1243 rubles – U.S. $1)

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