Russian stocks gain on stable oil, rising ruble

MOSCOW, Oct 20 (PRIME) -- Russian stocks edged up on Tuesday as stable oil prices and a higher ruble supported the market, analysts said.

The MICEX grew 0.38% to 1,722.62 and the RTS increased 0.79% to 875.55.

The Brent oil futures increased 0.185% to U.S. $48.70 per barrel as of 6.17 p.m. Moscow time. Investors expect a positive outcome of a meeting between the OPEC members and non-OPEC oil producers, including Russia, where oil prices are discussed, Dmitry Gurkovsky, an analyst at RoboForex, said.

The U.S. dollar–denominated RTS grew due to the stronger ruble. “The position of the local currency was supported by tax payments and expectations of a forthcoming central bank key rate cut soon, as investors are buying ruble-denominated assets before their yield decreases,” Yury Kravchenko, senior analyst at investment company Veles Capital, said.

The ruble strengthening also stimulated purchases in the Russian banking sector. Common and preferred shares of biggest bank Sberbank rose 1.23% and shares of second biggest bank VTB grew 0.29%.

Fertilizer maker Uralkali increased 3.38% in a correction after a two-day fall due to its exclusion from the MSCI Russia index, and were supported by FTSE’s decision to keep the shares in its indices.

Fertilizer producer PhosAgro rose 1.15% as investors still reacted to a government decision not to impose duties on exports of apatite concentrate.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	+1.23	88.14	9.606
Uralkali	+3.38	165.10	4.879
Gazprom	+0.09	140.40	4.040
Lukoil	+0.77	2332.90	1.985
Norilsk Nickel	-1.06	9658.00	1.955

(61.4419 rubles – U.S. $1)

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