Russian stocks grow on promise of RusHydro reform

MOSCOW, Apr 5 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market edged up on Wednesday driven by RusHydro that may undergo a reform, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index rose 0.82% to 2,500.80 and the RTS increased 0.41% to 987.51.

“The Russian stock market showed a moderate change receiving support mainly from corporate stories,” Veles Capital’s analyst Yelena Kozhukhova said.

Far-Eastern Energy Company and its parent company RusHydro gained 6.46% to 1.714 rubles and 3.36% to 0.856 rubles, respectively on the news about the Federal Antimonopoly System’s plans to split RusHydro into a generation firm and a grid company, Kozhukhova said.

Yevgeny Linchik, head of the alternative investment department of managing company Pervaya, said that the growth of the Russian market cooled down after a downward turn of the foreign stock floors and by a lack of further growth of the oil prices.

“The Russian stock market spent the day in positive consolidation. There were no ideas for a full-scale growth, and its overbought state suggests that a downward correction is possible soon,” Andrei Kochetkov, leading analyst for global research at Otkritie Research, said.

Russia’s second largest bank VTB lost 6.28% to 0.01909 rubles after Deputy CEO Dmitry Pyanov said that the bank would not pay dividends for 2023 taking into account the losses of 2022. The hopes for the bank’s generosity were dashed, Kochetkov said.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
VTB	-6.28	0.01909	9.880
Kamaz	+26.10	186.00	9.113
Sberbank	+0.54	215.99	8.572
Gazprom	+0.37	173.18	5.116
Lukoil	+0.76	4545.00	2.200

(79.3563 rubles – U.S. $1)

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