Russian stocks edge up backed by improvement of global environment

MOSCOW, Oct 23 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market opened and consolidated lower in the first part of the trading session on Wednesday, but managed to reverse thanks to an improving foreign background later in the day to close in the positive territory, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index grew 0.69% to 2,821.58 and the RTS rose 0.35% to 1,392.47.

“The MOEX Russia Index and the RTS strived to the green territory in light of a rise in some stocks and improvement of the external cues… while the RTS index was pressured by a weakening ruble,” Veles Broker analyst Yelena Kozhukhova said.

BCS Broker expert Dmitry Babin said that the domestic market fell in the morning following declining global benchmarks and crude prices. In the second part of the day the foreign background improved significantly, which sparked a burst of the local indices.

Common shares of oil and gas company Surgutneftegas demonstrated a powerful upwards impulse hitting a 13-year high with no news drivers, Babin also said. The stock jumped 9.38% to 40.17 rubles.

Kozhukhova also said that crude prices reversed in the second part of the Russian trading session and added nearly 1% after the U.S. Energy Department had reported a significant fall in oil inventories. The factor supported local energy stocks.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Gazprom	+0.36	236.2	9.322
Surgutneftegas, common	+9.38	40.17	8.870
Sberbank	-0.08	239.57	8.277
Lukoil	+1.97	5976	6.320
Surgutneftegas, preferred	+2.72	39.3	5.490

(63.6336 rubles – U.S. $1)

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