Russian stocks increase as oil prices support market

MOSCOW, Jan 10 (PRIME) -- The Russian stocks grew on Friday propelled by the oil segment as the oil prices rose to the level before the U.S. strike against Iran, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index rose 0.18% to 3,123.66 and the RTS increased 0.81% to 1,614.69.

“The national market started Friday trading with uncertainty, but switched into the green zone in the middle of the day. It received help from the shares of oil companies – Gazprom Neft, Rosneft, and Lukoil. The fire at Lukoil’s refinery in the Komi Republic turned out to be not severe enough to hurt the company’s financial report,” Andrei Kochetkov, senior analyst at Otkritie Broker, said.

“Moreover, the oil prices returned to the level they had before the U.S. attack of the representative of the Iranian elite, and are not ready to fall further.”

Dmitry Babin, stock market expert at BCS Broker, said that trading on the foreign bourses was favorable for the Russian market as the majority of Asian stocks rose as well as futures for the U.S. stock indices. The international markets are still pricing in the abating geopolitical tension between Washington and Tehran, he said.

“U.S. jobless claims were better than expected, which became an additional growth driver for the U.S. shares,” Babin said.

Yelena Kozhukhova, analyst at Veles Capital, said that the preferred shares of metals and mining group Mechel were among the loss leaders falling 3.07% to 99.35 rubles in correction after a serious rise in the previous week, while the shares of precious metals producer Polymetal International gained 1.25% to 981 rubles in a rebound after a Thursday fall.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Gazprom	-0.85	251.90	7.220
Sberbank	+0.08	258.19	4.864
Lukoil	+0.93	6490.00	3.227
Rosneft	+2.89	473.50	3.143
Surgutneftegas	+0.66	54.00	3.031

(61.2340 rubles – U.S. $1)

End