Russian stocks grow on oil, foreign mkts optimism

MOSCOW, Sep 15 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market increased on Tuesday, following a positive trend on foreign stock markets and in oil prices, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index grew 1.78% to 2,980.58, and the RTS Index rose 2.05% to 1,253.68.

"The domestic stock market was growing again. The increase became more pronounced in the middle of the day on the back of rising oil prices," Andrei Kochetkov, senior analyst for global research at Otkritie Broker, said.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimated the fulfillment of the OPEC plus agreement terms by 97% in August, which, according to Kochetkov, eased the concerns of market participants over uncontrollable rise of oil production.

Kochetkov said that European markets were growing after China reported a 5.6% increase of the industrial output in August against a 5.1% increase estimate, and retail sales edged up 0.5% for the first time since the start of the year.

Veles Capital analyst Yelena Kozhukhova said that the U.S. stock market grew on Tuesday, slightly receding from daily maximums in the evening.

Kochetkov said that TMK and Mechel were among the market leaders rising 4.32% and 2.91% after TMK announced an offer to minority shareholders for 61 rubles per security and Mechel announced a buyout from those who disagree with the bankruptcy moratorium removal. 

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	+1.73	231.3	13.642
Norilsk Nickel	+0.46	19582	8.905
Gazprom	+2.62	182.85	7.098
Yandex	-0.38	4711.8	7.006
Lukoil	+2.6	4876	7.005

(74.7148 – U.S. $1)

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