Russian stocks close higher backed by rise of oil, foreign bourses

MOSCOW, Dec 21 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market edged up on Tuesday thanks to recovery of the global energy market and rising Western bourses, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index grew 0.65% to 3,693.02 and the RTS increased 1.02% to 1,573.50.

“The Russian stock market managed to recover partially from the previous day’s losses in light of an improving external environment. The local market was backed by restoration of the energy market… and the dynamics of Western bourses,” senior analyst at financial supermarket Banki.Ru Bogdan Zvarich said.

He added that the nearest Brent oil futures grew by more than 2% to above U.S. $73 per barrel, main European indices increased by up to 1.2% by the evening, and the core U.S. benchmarks Dow Jones and S&P500 rose by 0.8% and 0.5%, respectively, in the first 30 minutes of trading.

The MOEX Russia Index managed to rise above the 3,700 mark at the beginning of the trading session, but then reversed, and continued growth only at the end of the trading session, Zvarich also said.

Senior Trader at managing company Alfa-Capital Vladislav Silayev said that mining company Mechel, banking group TCS, power producer WGC-2 and real estate classifieds online aggregator CIAN were among the best performers adding up to 10%.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Gazprom	+3.05	335.84	21.959
Sberbank	+0.57	290.04	16.357
Lukoil	-0.2	6316	6.601
Norilsk Nickel	-0.11	21620	4.231
Mechel	+9.46	121.21	2.411

(74.2947 rubles – U.S. $1)

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