Russian stocks edge up on corporate stories, oil price growth

MOSCOW, May 17 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market edged up on Monday as investors focused on local corporate stories and on the growth of oil prices instead of unfavorable dynamics of Western bourses, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index rose 0.06% to 3,639.61 and the RTS increased 0.16% to 1,551.36.

“The MOEX Russia Index and the RTS Index climbed up from their intra-day lows at the end of the trade session, and they tried to gain some ground using certain corporate stories and external factors,” Yelena Kozhukhova, analyst at Veles Capital, said.

The background for the Russian market was mixed as the mood of players on bourses of the U.S. and the E.U. was negative, but the oil market provided some positive momentum as oil prices attempted to continue their short-term upward trend, she said.

The Brent oil price rose by 1.019% to U.S. $69.41 per barrel as of 6.43 p.m. Moscow time, according to the ICE exchange.

“Europe also set no positive example (for the Russian market). Investors are still in fear of inflation overheating and of leading regulators possibly making a U-turn in their policies. In addition to that, the coronavirus situation started worsening once again in some countries, even though successful vaccination helped the U.K. and the U.S. lift restrictions,” Andrei Kochetkov, leading analyst for global research at Otkritie Broker, said.

Kozhukhova said that national flagship carrier Aeroflot gained 4.81% to 70.56 rubles as its passenger traffic soared more than ninefold on the year in April, making the company Russia’s top airline by passenger traffic. In addition to that, Russian authorities decided to reopen the air cooperation with Iceland, Malta, Mexico, Portugal, and Saudi Arabia on May 25.

She also said that shares of gold producers outperformed the market as prices for gold have reached their highest point since the beginning of February. Polymetal International rose by 2.82% to 1,720.60 rubles, and Polyus grew by 2.29% to 15,313 rubles.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Lukoil	-2.14	5920.50	9.615
Gazprom	+0.98	252.00	8.997
Sberbank	-0.49	302.60	7.951
Norilsk Nickel	-0.01	27386.00	5.616
VTB	-4.34	0.0479	4.364

(73.9968 rubles – U.S. $1)

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