Russian stocks grow backed by positive crude dynamics

MOSCOW, May 23 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market was trading lower during the day in light of a controversial background on Tuesday, but managed to edge up at the end of the trading session thanks to stronger crude prices, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index grew 0.32% to 2,641.66 and the RTS increased 0.21% to 1,038.

“The Russian stock market has spent the day not deeply in the red territory… From the one hand, the external background was positive enough. The global investment community hopes for a soon agreement on a rise of the U.S. state debt ceiling, which supports commodity prices,” Freedom Finance Global’s Senior Analyst Natalya Milchakova said.

“On the other hand, internal news, including those of (gas giant) Gazprom and (oil company) Gazprom Neft, do not encourage buyers’ active actions on the local market,” she added.

Gazprom’s board of directors has voted against final dividends for 2022, which has become the top story of the day. Gazprom Neft’s board has recommended paying 12.16 rubles per share in dividends for October–December 2022, which is in line with the consensus opinion. Gazprom Neft saw a slide of 4.5% and Gazprom of 3% during the day.

Veles Broker analyst Yelena Kozhukhova said that power utility Unipro and fertilizer producer PhosAgro were among the top gainers rising by 3.83% and 2.35%, respectively, ahead of dividend recommendations by their boards of directors.

Managing company Pervaya analyst Yevgeny Linchik said that the U.S. stock market started its trading session lower, but still close to the year’s highest. The Brent oil price increased to over U.S. $76.5 per barrel.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Gazprom	-2.81	167.62	28.653
Sberbank	+2.17	236.01	10.522
VTB Bank	+3.28	0.023635	5.515
Gazprom Neft	-4.5	516	3.517
Polymetal International	-3.98	568.8	3.344

(79.9379 rubles – U.S. $1)

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