Russian stocks rise as Fed signals caution about rate hikes

MOSCOW, Mar 30 (PRIME) -- Russian stocks grew on Wednesday on a higher appetite for risky assets as the U.S. Federal Reserve System (Fed) signaled caution on interest rates, analysts said.

The MICEX rose 1.24% to 1,868.10 and the RTS increased 3.13% to 869.86.

“Global stock markets were supported by Fed’s Chairwoman Janet Yellen, who made it clear yesterday that the regulator will be extremely careful in raising interest rates. National benchmarks were also supported by rebounding oil prices, which stabilized above $40 per barrel,” Igor Kovalyov, an analyst at InstaForex, said.

Veles Capital analyst Alexander Kostyukov said that an additional factor, which supported the Russian stock market, was an American Petroleum Institute’s (API) report, which showed that the U.S. oil reserves growth slowed down on the week.

The dollar-denominated RTS was technically supported by a stronger ruble.

The ruble strengthening supported stocks of Russian banks, Kovalyov said. Top Russian lender Sberbank rose 1.96% to 109.15 rubles, and VTB Bank went up 2.33% to 0.0747 rubles.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	+1.96	109.15	9.179
Gazprom	+2.14	147.80	5.053
Lukoil	-0.17	2610.00	3.254
Norilsk Nickel	+0.17	8950.00	1.878
Magnit	-1.56	10410.00	1.746

(68.7549 rubles – U.S. $1)

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