Russian stocks rise as Lukoil may pay dividends

MOSCOW, Sep 1 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market increased on Thursday on the back of rising chances of dividend payments by Lukoil, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index grew 1.90% to 2,445.77, and the RTS index rose 1.67% to 1,279.45.

"The bullish moods have remained on the domestic stock market today, while the volatility has somewhat declined, and the volumes in some blue chips have remained elevated. The shares of Lukoil were the market locomotive on the back of increased chances of dividend payments by the company. The shares of Bashneft also looked good," PSB Bank senior analyst Yegor Zhilnikov said.

Finam analyst Anna Builakova said that the fact that the Moscow Exchange plans to restart evening trading sessions on the stock market on September 12 was a good news because it indicated some normalization of trust to activities on the financial market.

The release of official Russian economic statistics for July late Wednesday also signaled some positive changes on the month, the analyst said.

Dmitry Postolenko, senior portfolio manager of management company Pervaya, said that in other aspects, a negative external background formed on Thursday. The Asian trading floors closed in the red zone on the back of a weak statistics and fears for a deceleration of the economic growth. An increase of coronavirus cases and the toughening of quarantine measures only reinforced the worries of market participants. The European markets lost more than 1% at the opening of the session, contributing to negative moods.

Builakova said that U.S. investors were reassessing assets after hawkish statements by head of the Federal Reserve System (Fed) Jerome Powell at an economic symposium in Jackson Hole last week. The official said that the reduction of inflation to target 2% was a priority, which is why the ruler would need to take steps restricting the economic activity.

The Brent oil blend continued to lose price on Thursday to about U.S. $93.5 per barrel. According to Postolenko, the trend was caused by a decline of demand for risky assets and concerns over the prospects of large consumers' oil demand. 

According to Zhilnikov, Gazprom's shares corrected downwards after a growth on Wednesday.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Gazprom	-2.27	249.11	21.016
Lukoil	+10.59	4722	11.095
Sberbank	+2.94	138.2	7.407
Rosneft	+1.49	373.5	1.869
Norilsk Nickel	+2.85	16600	1.803

(60.2386 rubles – U.S. $1)

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