Russian stocks increase supported by strong oil prices

MOSCOW, Jan 18 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market edged up to hit record highs on Thursday, supported by oil prices consolidating at high levels, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index grew 0.86% to an all-time record of 2,297.47 and the RTS rose 1.15% to 1,279.28, its highest since July 2017.

“The Russian stock market was again in a positive trend… The market was backed by the Brent oil price, which stopped falling and consolidated at around $69.3-69.4 per barrel,” Raiffeisen Capital analyst Sofya Kirsanova said.

Crude prices were driven upwards by both the latest American Petroleum Institute (API)’s statistics marking another decrease of the U.S. inventories, and China’s advancing refining volumes, she added.

Blue chips were among the best performers. Top bank Sberbank added 2.37% to 245.5 rubles, oil major Rosneft rose 2.02% to 333.1 rubles and gas giant Gazprom grew 1.11% to 150.35 rubles.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	+2.37%	245.5	15.651
Gazprom	+1.11%	150.35	8.056
Lukoil	+0.09%	3855	3.789
Rosneft	+2.02%	333.1	3.619
Norilsk Nickel	+0.54%	11560	2.299

(56.5925 rubles – U.S. $1)

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