Russian stocks increase on oil price above $32 per barrel

MOSCOW, Jan 27 (PRIME) -- Russian stocks increased on Wednesday on the back of oil prices growing above U.S. $32 per barrel and on investor expectations of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s decision on its key rate to be released later in the day, analysts said.

The MICEX rose 2.50% to 1,747.57 and the RTS increased 3.19% to 704.87.

“The Russian stocks indexes traded with cautious optimism today despite mixed foreign background and volatility of oil prices,” InstaForex analyst Igor Kovalyov said.

The market participants have ignored a significant decrease in the U.S. stock index futures and negative dynamics of the main European stock markets, Vitaly Manzhos, a senior analyst at Bank Obrazovanie, said.

The U.S. oil reserves grew by 8.38 million barrels in a week, above the projected 4.27 million barrels. “Despite the release of the data showing a significant growth in oil reserves, oil quotations continued their growth and broke through the level of $32 per barrel,” Veles Capital analyst Alexander Kostyukov said.

Retailer Magnit closed 2.82% higher having reported a 13% net profit growth in October–December 2015 under International Financial Reporting Standards.

Fertilizer producer Acron, which boosted output 2.27% to 6.431 million tonnes in 2015, closed 2% higher.

Novorossiysk Commercial Sea Port (NCSP) rose 3.26% on reports that its cargo traffic grew 6.5% to 139.7 million tonnes in 2015.

Flag carrier Aeroflot fell 0.57%, which can be connected with the company reporting a 10% decrease in its euro-denominated international tariffs, Manzhos said.

“Aeroflot group significantly decreased volumes of international passenger and cargo traffic in 2015. A reduction of the group’s currency-denominated revenue can be a logical result, which can’t be a positive factor amid the current conditions,” the analyst said.

Below are the MICEX’ five most active stocks on Wednesday:

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	+4.64	95.75	14.246
Gazprom	+1.63	134.00	3.808
Lukoil	+3.56	2400.50	2.943
Norilsk Nickel	+1.02	8991.00	1.706
Rosneft	+3.32	264.40	1.629

(81.8394 rubles – U.S. $1)

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