Russian stocks grow on corporate news, growing oil prices

MOSCOW, May 24 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market ended the main trading on Wednesday with a moderate increase amid strong financial results of some Russian companies and growing oil prices, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index rose 0.50% to 2,654.99 and the RTS increased 0.57% to 1,043.95.

“The financial results of Russian issuers for the first quarter, calculated under International Financial Reporting Standards, signal a high level of corporate management in Russia and increase the attractiveness of local shares for investors,” Freedom Finance Global’s Senior Analyst Natalya Milchakova said.

The external background is still uncertain, mainly due to the lack of agreements in the U.S. on the debt ceiling issue, the analyst also said.

According to Dmitry Postolenko, head of managing company Pervaya’s department for fixed income securities management, the Russian market showed positive dynamics amid the growth of oil quotations, while global markets were dominated by sales.

The stock market was on the rise by the end of the main trading, thanks to continued optimism on certain issuers, Veles Broker analyst Yelena Kozhukhova said.

Etalon’s shares jumped to their highest since April 2022, thanks to last week's news about the company's intention to gain primary listing status on the Moscow Exchange.

TCS Group also hit its peak since April 2022 amid strong financial results for January–March.

Segezha was under pressure as the company reported on Wednesday weak financial results for January–March, according to which the company had a net loss of 3.76 billion rubles.

Magnit shares were falling over the news about the intention of the Moscow Exchange to move the securities from the first to the third tier of the quotation list starting from May 25, Yelena Kozhukhova said.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	+2.72	242.87	16.114
Magnit	-4.34	4227	13.637
Gazprom	-1.63	163.88	9.996
VTB Bank	+0.06	0.023675	5.875
Lukoil	+0.34	5190.5	3.95

(80.1665 rubles – U.S. $1)

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