Russian stocks rally in cap inflow, solid US stats, higher oil

MOSCOW, Apr 4 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market rallied at Friday closure on an continued capital inflow into the country’s economy, solid labor statistics from the U.S., and a rising price of oil, the backbone of the budget, analysts said.

The MICEX index ascended 1.20% to 1,382.41, and the RTS index jumped 1.92% to 1,233.93.

“We did not see clear dynamics of stock indices at the opening of the session, and they hovered close to zero. In the second half of the day, however, demand for Russian stocks and bonds returned. The trend was hugely contributed by strengthening of the ruble. We saw an inflow of money into the most liquid shares,” Ivan Fomenko, director of Absolut Bank’s trust management department, said in a note.

Emerging Portfolio Fund Research said earlier that the net inflow in Russia-dedicated funds stood at U.S. $119 million in the week between March 28 and Wednesday for the fourth week in a row.

“This week the MICEX hit its highest point since the market tumbled on the back of the situation in Ukraine. The MICEX continued its rally for a third week in a row, and is now up 2.6% on the week and 16.5% since mid-March. The dollar-based RTS nearly rebounded to the pre-Crimea events level reaching 1,241.90 on Tuesday,” Otkritie analysts said.

The growth on the domestic market was also backed up by moderately positive labor statistics from the U.S. and rising prices of oil.

The U.S. nonfarm payrolls rose in March by 192,000 units instead of the expected 200,000 units.

The Brent oil futures for May 14 rose 0.66% to $106.86 per barrel as of 7 p.m. Moscow time.

“The news on the results of the central bank’s stress-tests had also a positive impact. According to the words of the regulator’s first deputy chairman, the extreme test, stipulating the blocking of accounts and the closure of access to international markets in line with the ruble’s weakening by 30%, showed that the Russian banking system will continue functioning,” Investcafe analyst Timur Nigmatullin said.

Unlike the general trend, quotes of Federal Grid Company of Unified Energy Systems (FGC UES) plunged 3.01% to 0.0744 rubles. Analysts attributed the dynamics to a reported loss for 2013.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	+1.80	82.98	12.067
Gazprom	+2.21	137.47	8.003
VTB Bank	+1.78	0.0389	5.350
Lukoil	+0.61	1966.00	2.000
Norilsk Nickel	+1.39	6135.00	1.329

(35.5154 rubles – U.S. $1)

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