Russian stocks rebound supported by high oil price

MOSCOW, Jan 19 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market soared on Thursday as investors bought the oversold shares, while high oil prices supported the growth, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index rose 3.24% to 3,436.82 and the RTS increased 3.45% to 1,414.68.

“Growth of the Russian stock indices sped up by the middle of the day building up on the correctional rebound on the lack of negative geopolitical news and some improvement in the external background,” Yelena Kozhukhova, analyst at Veles Capital, said.

The Brent oil price gained around 1% at the end of the day staying below U.S. $88.5 per barrel, but during the day it jumped above $89 per barrel, a record since 2014. This created a positive background for the Russian market together with the rising European indices and futures for the U.S. indices, she said.

“Although sales continued by inertia in the morning session, investors have started to buy the obviously oversold shares actively since the beginning of the main trading session, supported by the lack of negative news about Russia–U.S. dialogue and the oil price hitting record highs for the past several years,” Yegor Zhilnikov, senior analyst at Promsvyazbank, said.

The country risk premium fell, the shares are still overbought despite a high oil price, and the fundamental market factors are also attractive meaning the MOEX Russia Index may continue rising to 3,500 on Thursday, Zhilnikov said.

Real estate developers PIK Group and Samolet Group were among the loss leaders falling by 4.03% to 1,127.40 rubles and 1.45% to 4,681 rubles, respectively, as they outperformed the market earlier, he said.

Kozhukhova also said that coal producer Raspadskaya gained 6.42% to 411 rubles per paper as it reached a mid-term contraction goal of around 359 rubles after a dividend cut-off and recent sales. The securities are now trying to climb to the resistance of 425 rubles, and if they finish the week above it, they will try to get to the next short-term resistance of 460 rubles, she said.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	+2.85	241.39	80.966
Gazprom	+5.22	316.83	64.836
Lukoil	+3.94	6496.00	20.160
Norilsk Nickel	+6.10	21956.00	15.460
Yandex	-0.86	3736.60	11.825

(76.3347 rubles – U.S. $1)

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