Russian stocks increase supported by rising crude prices

MOSCOW, Mar 20 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market fell in the morning, but recovered enough to close in the positive territory later in the day on Tuesday on the back of oil prices growth, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index grew 0.41% to 2,291.18 and the RTS rose 1.19% to 1,256.00.

“The MOEX Russia Index and the RTS increased… the local bulls were supported by the crude futures, which managed to hit the week’s record high… Internal political risks have disappeared after the presidential election finished,” Vitaly Manzhos, senior risk manager at investment company Nord Capital, said.

Analysts of brokerage house Dukascopy Bank said that oil prices have been rising for the second consecutive day. Brent oil futures have reached U.S. $67.5 per barrel, buoyed by media reports about effective fulfillment of an OPEC+ oil production cut agreement.

Stronger crude prices supported domestic oil producers. Tatneft soared 1.47% to 620 rubles, Lukoil added 1.18% to 3,860 rubles and Rosneft grew 0.49% to 317.55 rubles.

Sberbank and VTB Bank were also among the best performers, the stocks increased 0.84% to 257.15 rubles and 0.94% to 0.0539 rubles, respectively.

Russia's gold producer Polyus fell 0.59% to 4,680 rubles on the news its gold ore reserves fell to 68 million ounces in 2017.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	+0.84%	257.15	15.999
Gazprom	+1.82%	142.45	3.663
Lukoil	+1.18%	3860	2.855
Magnit	-1.2%	4930	2.263
Severstal	-1.27%	873.6	1.844

(57.5521 rubles – U.S. $1)

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