Russian stocks edge up on strong crude, positive corporate events

MOSCOW, May 16 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market traded mixed and closed slightly higher on Wednesday backed by strong oil prices, but pressured by global financial market wariness, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index grew 0.06% to 2,338.39 and the RTS rose 0.93% to 1,189.77.

“The Russian stock market demonstrated mixed trading on Wednesday. It opened slightly lower pressured by a decline of Western stock exchanges. The MOEX Russia Index bounced back to the positive territory in the middle of the day backed by corporate events and managed to stay in the green zone until the end of the day,” Veles Capital said.

The domestic market was supported by crude futures still seen at their 3.5-year record highs after U.S. President Trump’s decision to quit the Iranian nuclear deal. The prices have been additionally supported by a recent report of the U.S. Department of Energy marking a fall in oil inventories, Veles Capital also said.

Otkritie Broker analyst Andrei Kochetkov said that the global financial market is worried about dynamics of the U.S. treasuries’ yield which make investors avoid risky assets.

Raw diamond mining giant ALROSA surged 3.1% to 91.5 rubles on a sound International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) financial report for January-March demonstrating a 40% rise in net profit.

Grocery retailer Magnit soared 2.48% to 5,170 rubles after it said it had appointed Olga Naumova, former head of the Pyaterochka store chain, part of X5 Retail Group, as its CEO.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	-0.69	229.80	16.095
Gazprom	-0.41	148.59	6.553
Magnit	+2.48	5170.00	3.425
Lukoil	+0.41	4410.00	3.330
ALROSA	+3.1	91.50	2.036

(61.9164 rubles – U.S. $1)

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