Russian stocks edge up on neutral market sentiment

MOSCOW, Apr 7 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market increased on Thursday as no new E.U. sanctions were released and the market sentiment was neutral, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index grew 0.92% to 2,635.39 and the RTS increased 5.57% to 1,092.41.

“The Russian stock market edged up on Thursday as there were no new coordinated sanctions from the E.U… while pessimistic sentiments persisted on foreign stock exchanges… The dynamics can be explained by the fact that most negative scenarios have already been included in the prices,” Veles Broker analyst Yelena Kozhukhova said.

Alexei Golovinov, chief analyst at PSB Bank, said that a lack of ideas was again seen on the local market.

The MOEX Russia Index was mainly backed by a steep rise in Sberbank and VTB Bank, which bounced back to recover from Wednesday’s losses, he also said.

Far-Eastern Shipping Company, or FESCO, added 6.36% thanks to Russia’s current need for building new logistic chains, and realty developer PIK jumped 8.32% without any noticeable news.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	+4.17	147.5	8.604
Gazprom	+2.21	245	5.435
Yandex	+2.86	2130	3.041
VTB Bank	+3.92	0.02281	1.836
Rosneft	+0.86	408.5	1.490

(82.5962 rubles – U.S. $1)

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