Russian stocks rise as Brent grows, US Fed releases latest minutes

MOSCOW, Aug 18 (PRIME) -- Russian stocks increased on Thursday mainly due to growth of the Brent oil price and improved interest to risky assets thanks following publication of minutes of the latest meeting of the U.S. Federal Reserve System (Fed), which showed little possibility of it rising the key rate in autumn, analysts said.

The MICEX rose 0.04% to 1,970.07 and the RTS increased 1.00% to 975.04.

Irina Rogova, an analyst at Forex Club group of companies, said that the external background was mixed during the day, as the U.S. stock index futures tried to resume growth, and European and Asian floors were in the red zone.

“Speaking of yesterday’s minutes of the Fed’s meeting, its tone reflected the lack of unity among the regulator’s representatives in their estimates of the economy’s future and further monetary policy. This means that the rate is unlikely to be raised in September. This will support risky assets,” Rogova said.

Vitaly Manzhos, a senior analyst at Bank Obrazovanie, said the evening growth of oil prices pushed the ruble higher and propped the U.S. dollar–denominated RTS index up.

Andrei Kochetkov, an analyst at Otkritie Broker, said that higher oil prices supported the local market and undermined quotations of the ruble-denominated shares due to the ruble strengthening.

Oil company Bashneft rose 1.36% to 2,915 rubles in correction after Wednesday’s 8% contraction. The shares lost a strong support factor after the government indefinitely delayed its privatization, Manzhos said.

Fertilizer producer Acron went up 0.57% to 3,530 rubles after the company’s board of directors recommended paying 155 rubles per share in dividends for January–June, which accounts for about 4.3% of the shares’ current market value, Manzhos said.

Mobile operator MTS lost 3.05% to 240 rubles after it said that its net profit under International Financial Reporting Standards plunged 47% on the year to 9.1 billion rubles in April–June even despite a 5.3% increase of revenue, Kochetkov said.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	-1.04	137.00	8.560
Gazprom	+0.52	138.40	2.661
Norilsk Nickel	-1.73	9601.00	1.411
Rosneft	+1.82	351.85	1.284
MTS	-3.05	240.00	1.240

(63.9943 rubles – U.S. $1)

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