Russian stocks edge up in attempt to recover from previous losses

MOSCOW, Apr 20 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market tried to correct upwards on Wednesday after reaching local lows in the previous days, but lost almost all its intraday gains by the end of the trading session, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index grew 0.57% to 2,330.73 and the RTS increased 3.06% to 960.42.

“Positive sentiments prevailed on the Russian stock market in the middle of the week, and they can be explained by a correction bounce-back after reaching local lows. However, the benchmarks stopped their upward movement near the lines of downward channels starting in the first half of April,” Veles Broker analyst Yelena Kozhukhova said.

She added that growth perspectives are still vague, and the geopolitical factors are unlikely to improve in the short term.

Senior analyst at financial supermarket Banki.Ru Bogdan Zvarich said that the Russian stock market tried to start correction growth, but failed to maintain the trend during the day.

The external background was mixed, he said. European and U.S. stock exchanges traded in the positive territory, but the Brent oil price fell below U.S. $107 per barrel.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	+1%	121.5	8.136
Gazprom	-0.82%	218.92	7.493
Lukoil	-3.9%	4,310	3.180
Yandex	-3.65%	1789.8	1.437
Norilsk Nickel	+4.65%	20590	1.330

(79.0287 rubles – U.S. $1)

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