Russian stocks follow oil rise but Syria, econ fall woes limit rebound

MOSCOW, Oct 1 (PRIME) -- Russian stocks rose on Wednesday on strengthening of oil prices, but the growth was limited by worsening of the World Bank’s forecast for Russia’s economy contraction in 2015 and 2016 and by senators’ approval of the use of the country’s air forces in Syria, analysts said.

The MICEX rose 0.76% to 1,642.97 and the RTS increased 0.72% to 789.73.

“The factor of the last (trading) day of the quarter helped investors on the global stock markets to reduce losses from recent days’ sales. But the Russian stock market shower more moderate (growth) dynamics,” Alexander Kostyukov, an analyst at Veles Capital, said.

Kostyukov attributed the lower growth of the domestic market to the Federation Council’s approval of President Vladimir Putin’s proposal to use Russia’s air forces abroad and the start of their deployment in Syria, among other reasons.

The Russian market was supported by the Brent price strengthening, which rose to over U.S. $48.5 per barrel, and by improved dynamics of U.S. stock market indices, which were backed by the country’s strong consumer confidence index, Igor Kovalyov, an analyst at InstaForex, said.

The rise of the domestic market was also limited by the World Bank’s decision to revise the forecast for Russia’s economy to a 3.8% decline in 2015 and 0.6% in 2016, he said.

E.ON Russia rose 5.92% after the company launched a third block at the Berezovskaya GRES power plant, Kostyukov said.

Gazprom rose 1.01% on the news that the company still cooperates with Shell on Sakhalin despite U.S. sanctions, Kovalyov said.

Transaero fell 6.35% after First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov said that the company may face bankruptcy.

Below are the MICEX’ five most active stocks on Wednesday:

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	-0.26	75.30	6.569
Gazprom	+1.01	134.55	5.853
Lukoil	-0.80	2242.90	3.360
Norilsk Nickel	+1.88	9500.00	2.331
Rosneft	+1.36	242.95	1.407

(66.2367 rubles – U.S. $1)

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