Russian stocks edge up as oil price grows

MOSCOW, May 5 (PRIME) -- Russian stocks edged up on Friday as the oil price clawed back some of the losses of previous days, analysts said.

The MICEX rose 0.18% to 2,002.41 and the RTS increased 0.41% to 1,085.68.

“The plunge of the Brent oil to $47 per barrel lead to trading on the Moscow Exchange starting in the red zone, but oil managed to eliminate the morning losses, which had a positive impact on the investor mood,” Andrei Kochetkov, an analyst at Otkritie Broker, said.

The Brent oil price rose 1.727% to U.S. $49.23 per barrel as of 6.30 p.m. Moscow time, according to the ICE exchange.

“The MICEX index showed no strong volatility today…The market was supported by a noticeable rebound of oil prices and hopes for a positive outcome for the market of the presidential elections in France. At the same time, the long upcoming weekend restrained the recovery,” Yevgeny Loktyukhov, head of the capital market research department at Promsvyazbank, said.

Russia will be on holidays on Monday and Tuesday to celebrate the Victory Day.

Igor Kovalyov, an analyst at InstaForex group of companies, said that preferred shares of oil company Bashneft lost 0.75% to 1,250 rubles due to mixed financial results. The net profit attributable to shareholders fell 39.1% on the year in January–March, while sales revenue grew 20%. The pretax profit plunged 39.6%, as calculated under International Financial Reporting Standards.

Kochetkov also said that the morning fall of oil prices resulted in a decrease of the ruble, which provided momentum to shares of exporters, and fertilizer producer Uralkali grew 6.12% to 156.95 rubles, preferred shares of oil company Tatneft rose 2% to 249.90 rubles, and silver and gold producer Polymetal gained 2.13% to 744 rubles.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	+0.18	165.80	5.861
Gazprom	-0.39	134.41	3.519
Lukoil	+1.13	2811.50	1.721
ALROSA	-1.36	93.41	1.649
Norilsk Nickel	+0.74	8765.00	1.139

(57.5714 rubles – U.S. $1)

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