Russian stocks grow as foreign mkts rise, political pressure fades

MOSCOW, Mar 29 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market rose on Thursday, following a positive trend of foreign markets and supported by the absence of a strong political pressure, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index grew 1.13% to 2,274.62 and the RTS Index increased 1.64% to 1,246.98.

“The mood of global investors is improving gradually, the fears are fading again. The Russian stock market indices are trying to spread the wings and claw back earlier losses on this wave,” Igor Kovalyov, analyst at InstaForex group of companies, said.

Andrei Kochetkov, an analyst at Otkritie Broker, said that the European markets increased modestly and there was no explicit pressure on Russia, which allowed the Russian market to rise despite a decrease of oil prices.

Kovalyov said that Russian investors paid no attention to statements by U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May that London could consider prohibiting sale of Russian Eurobonds on the London Stock Exchange (LSE), but Russian stocks can fall if the statements become more aggressive.

All companies in the Russian oil and gas sector rose, Kovalyov said.

He said that Gazprom increased on the news that the European Commission is unable to bar it from management of the Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline even in case of the E.U. gas directive amendments.

Kochetkov said that global depositary receipts (GDR) of X5 Retail Group soared 5.09% after a strong October-December report under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	+0.56	252.9	8.538
Lukoil	+1.64	3991.5	3.407
Gazprom	+1.66	142.8	3.375
Magnit	+0.67	4636	2.466
Tatneft	+1.82	615	1.455

(57.5598 rubles – U.S. $1)

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