Russian stocks grow on European markets' increase

MOSCOW, Jan 14 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market closed higher on Thursday as the European stock markets rose and the U.S. stock market futures and oil prices were flat, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index grew by 0.59% to 3,490.85, and the RTS index increased by 0.93% to 1,500.58.

"By the middle of the trading session, after decreasing in the first half, the Russian stock market indices tried to consolidate in the green zone as the external background stabilized," Veles Capital analyst Yelena Kozhukhova said.

According to Kozhukhova, the European markets were moderately positive as the Euro Stoxx 50 index grew by 0.4%. Vaccination news improved the mood in the region.

The U.S. stock market was neutral before the opening as the U.S. S&P 500 futures rose by 0.1%. The market was waiting for the bond purchasing program to be announced by Federal Reserve System (Fed) Chairman Jerome Powell and President-Elect Joe Biden’s announcement of a U.S. $2 trillion economic program, the analyst said.

Andrei Kochetkov, senior analyst for global research at Otkritie Broker, said that the oil prices were unaffected by the news about vaccination. Part of the pessimism was because the European countries are only prolonging the quarantine, while in China the number of new contagion cases reached a maximum in 10 months, which could cause wider restrictions during the national holidays.

Kozhukhova said that Norilsk Nickel grew on the back of increasing nickel prices.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	+0.18	284.28	20.120
Gazprom	+0.56	228.08	12.843
Lukoil	+2.65	5907.5	11.572
Norilsk Nickel	+1.29	26310	8.024
Rosneft	+3.71	504	7.311

(73.5264 rubles – U.S. $1)

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