Russian stocks edge up following external markets, corporate news

MOSCOW, Oct 18 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market managed to rise on Tuesday thanks to positive corporate news and external optimist, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index grew 0.97% to 2,032.40 and the RTS increased 1.16% to 1,039.76.

“The Russian stock market stayed in the positive territory at the end of the trading session and tried to accelerate growth on corporate stories and optimistic sentiments abroad,” Veles Broker analyst Yelena Kozhukhova said.

Purchases persisted on global stock exchanges, but the bulls’ willingness to continue buying started to weaken. Global appetites for risk are still restrained with fears of global recession, which are likely to dominate in the medium term, she added.

The MOEX Russia and the RTS indices finished the session below the resistance lines of 2,040 and 1,060 despite attempts of growth. The market has not yet received news on the 9th package of E.U. sanctions so it can keep on rising thanks to favorable external factors, Kozhukhova also said.

Alexei Golovinov, chief analyst at PSB Bank, said that oil company Lukoil continued to advance on anticipations of good dividend payments, which offset a fall of the sector’s other stocks.

He also said that real estate developers were among the best gainers on the news the government’s family mortgage program had been prolonged until July 2024.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	+0.68	113.2	9.248
Polyus	+6.46	5697.5	2.798
Lukoil	+2.09	4300.5	2.602
Gazprom	-0.15	163	2.246
Rosneft	-1.15	309.85	1.651

(61.7634 rubles – U.S. $1)

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