Russian stocks rise amid neutral background, strengthening crude

MOSCOW, Feb 28 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market spent most of the day in the positive territory and closed higher on Tuesday amid neutral sentiments on external bourses and increasing crude prices, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index grew 0.54% to 2,253.16 and the RTS increased 0.10% to 946.23.

“The MOEX Russia Index and the RTS behaved stably and remained above the recently reached marks of 2,225 and 935, respectively. The ruble-denominated indicator stopped growing near a support line of 2,255, but generally it enters March with a positive mood and hopes to reach at least February’s peak of 2,290,” Veles Broker analyst Yelena Kozhukhova said.

The dynamics of the RTS index are mainly defined by the ruble and the risks of the currency’s further weakening can weaken the benchmark as well, she added.

Kozhukhova said that neutral sentiments prevailed on the global stock markets on Tuesday, main bourses consolidated ahead of the release of important macroeconomic data by China, the U.S. and Europe in the middle of the week, so the bullish trend of risky assets has faded out.

The nearest Brent oil futures added 1.5% by the evening although uncertainty about the future of the world’s economy still remains, she also said.

Management company Alfa-Capital’s senior trader Vladislav Silayev said that the Russian market stayed in the positive territory during most of the day, and investors’ priorities were mixed including energy and banking stocks.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	-0.03	169.9	13.151
Lukoil	+1.59	3965	4.360
Gazprom	+0.88	157.72	2.568
Polyus	-1.12	8778.5	2.204
Tatneft	+3.73	327.9	2.164

(75.4323 rubles – U.S. $1)

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