Russian stocks grow on US midterms, halt of oil price fall

MOSCOW, Nov 7 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market increased on Wednesday as investors welcomed Democrats’ victory in the U.S. midterm elections, while the morning’s oil price slide stopped later in the day, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index grew 1.37% to 2,445.34, and the RTS Index increased 1.14% to 1,164.27.

“The Russian stock market has been trading in the up note today, following dynamics of its European peers,” Finam analyst Sergei Drozdov said.

Otkritie Broker analyst Andrei Kochetkov said that after a sell-off in the morning, the Russian investors changed their opinion on the outcome of the U.S. midterms as “the majority of Democrats in the House of Representatives will lead to endless debates with the Republican-led Senate and the president over any issue, including the restrictions on Russia.”

The oil quotations stopped falling on rumors that negotiations with the producers on 2019 output restrictions will be held soon, Kochetkov said.

He said that the oil and gas sector grew except for Rosneft, which rose only slightly after a strong earlier increase.

The banking sector, in particular, VTB rose on expectations of a strong financial report, the analyst said.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	+2.07	201.9	19.697
Gazprom	+1.19	157.85	5.340
Lukoil	+2.36	5174.5	3.748
VTB	+5.64	0.03819	2.168
Norilsk Nickel	+1.12	11695	1.734

(65.9912 rubles – U.S. $1)

End