Russian stocks rise as Trump wins US elections

MOSCOW, Nov 9 (PRIME) -- Russian stocks grew on Wednesday after Donald Trump won the U.S. presidential elections, which many investors see as a possibility of warming relations between the two states, analysts said.

The MICEX rose 2.22% to 2,011.58 and the RTS increased 1.82% to 990.35.

“One could say that Russian assets have won a sweeping victory in the U.S. presidential elections, while European and Asian assets were knocked out…In general, the victory of Donald Trump in the U.S. elections means hopes for normalization of relations between Moscow and Washington, and also a breakthrough in other international directions,” Andrei Kochetkov, an analyst at Otkritie Broker, said.

First forecasts of the fallout of Trump’s victory favor a mid-term growth of commodity prices. The republicans in the U.S. Senate, the House of Representatives and in the White House may scrap support of alternative energy in favor of conventional hydrocarbons. And the new cabinet’s policy is expected to reject the idea of controlled chaos, which should have a positive impact on the economies in Africa and Eurasia and lead to a higher demand for energy, Kochetkov said.

“The Russian stock market grew significantly even despite a negative reaction to Trump’s victory from foreign trade floors…and even the Brent oil price was able to regain morning losses and return to yesterday’s level of U.S. $46 per barrel. The Russian indices celebrated Trump’s victory expecting an improvement of the U.S.–Russia relations,” Bogdan Zvarich, an analyst at investment company Finam, said.

Vitaly Manzhos, a senior analyst at Bank Obrazovanie, also said that the euphoria on the local market happened due to the fact that the rule of republicans in the U.S. will mean revision of the country’s external policy, including towards Russia.

Shares of gas giant Gazprom grew 4.52% to 145.62 rubles as mid-term and long-term prospects of the company are closely tied to changes in external political circumstances, Manzhos said.

Common and preferred shares of oil company Tatneft went up 3.05% to 364.60 rubles and 1.59% to 197.80 rubles, respectively, after the Federal Antimonopoly Service allowed it to raise its stake in petrochemical company Nizhnekamskneftekhim to a blocking stake of 26.7976% through purchase of 1.8% in the company.

Shares of retailer Magnit lost 2.12% to 9,651 rubles after it reported that its monthly revenue growth lags behind average annual figures, despite of the company’s constant launch of new stores increasing the sales area, Manzhos added.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	+3.37	151.04	15.191
Gazprom	+4.52	145.62	11.344
Lukoil	+0.94	3058.50	2.961
Magnit	-2.12	9651.00	2.759
ALROSA	+0.37	82.30	2.682

(63.7364 rubles – U.S. $1)

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