Russian stocks increase on oil prices resuming growth

MOSCOW, Feb 10 (PRIME) -- Russian stocks rose on Wednesday on the back of oil prices reviving growth and amid an overall improvement of foreign conditions, analysts said.

The MICEX rose 0.43% to 1,730.83 and the RTS increased 0.90% to 696.61.

“The market was supported by the oil price, which showed a sharp growth half an hour before the close of the Russian stock market,” MFX Broker leading analyst Artyom Zvyagilsky said.

Brent oil prices rose over 3% to slightly above U.S. $31 per barrel when the Russian market closed on reports that the U.S. oil reserves fell 0.1% in the week that ended on February 5 to 502 million barrels, while analysts expected them to grow 3.55 million barrels to 506.25 million barrels. The U.S. oil output decreased 0.3% to 9.186 million barrels per day.

Overall, investor activity was low on Wednesday ahead of a speech of the U.S. Federal Reserve System’s (Fed) Chairwoman Janet Yellen and amid a lack of internal and external news, Vitaly Manzhos, a senior analyst at Bank Obrazovanie, said.

The foreign background has significantly improved, Manzhos said. The U.S. stock index futures increased and general moods on main European floors have improved, he said.

Uncut diamond mining giant ALROSA fell 1.42% on reports that its net profit decreased 9.5% to 21.229 billion rubles in 2015, as calculated under Russian Accounting Standards (RAS).

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	+2.62	96.35	10.569
Gazprom	+0.25	133.03	3.541
Lukoil	-0.21	2382.50	2.628
Norilsk Nickel	-1.62	8510.00	1.890
Magnit	-0.33	10070.00	1.777

(78.6805 rubles – U.S. $1)

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