Russian stocks hit new all-time record to follow global optimism

MOSCOW, Jul 3 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market edged up on Wednesday following the positive dynamics of Western floors, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index grew 0.50% to 2,823.95 and the RTS rose 0.23% to 1,401.52.

"The Russian stock market hit another all-time record high thanks to a positive external background. Local stocks were supported by the favorable dynamics of Western stock exchanges," Promsvyazbank senior analyst Bogdan Zvarich said.

BCS Broker expert Dmitry Babin said that the global optimism stemmed from U.S. White House trade adviser Peter Navarro's claim that trade talks with China were heading in the right direction.

Zvarich said that major European indices added up to 0.7% while U.S. benchmarks rose 0.4–0.5%, and the energy market restored on better-than-expected U.S. crude inventories data released by the Department of Energy.

Multi-industry holding Sistema surged another 3.56% to 10.901 rubles after its core owner Vladimir Yevtushenkov said that higher dividends may be approved in autumn.

Veles Broker analyst Yelena Kozhukhova said that state-controlled telecom operator Rostelecom started trading ex-dividend so its preferred and common shares lost 3.22% and 1.82% to 63.05 and 79.19 rubles, respectively.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Gazprom	+2.01	251.6	11.186
Sberbank	+0.13	241.51	7.929
Lukoil	-0.49	5345.5	3.274
Tatneft	+1.38	780	2.472
ALROSA	-1.01	84.32	2.055

(63.2265 rubles – U.S. $1)

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