Russian stocks rise as US promises no new imminent sanctions

MOSCOW, Oct 24 (PRIME) -- Russian stocks grew on Wednesday after U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton said that Washington was not considering new sanctions against Moscow at the moment, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index rose 1.34% to 2,336.49 and the RTS increased 1.65% to 1,125.08.

“Russian investors turned the day into a real celebration. The U.S. does not plan to introduce additional sanctions against Russia as Bolton said during a news conference in Baku. After the statement, Russian shares and stock indices skyrocketed, and the ruble grew by almost 1%. Still, it was not unexpected news, as a meeting of the Russia and the U.S. presidents has already been scheduled for November 11,” investment company Finam’s analyst Vasily Oleinik said.

Andrei Kochetkov, an analyst at Otkritie Broker, said that Russia’s top lender Sberbank – the major target of foreign investor – reacted the most to Bolton’s comment. Sberbank rose 3.87%.

“John Bolton’s comment should be split into the opinion of the Congress and the opinion of the rest of the U.S. administration. We should see this only as a pleasant piece of news, nothing more,” Kochetkov said.

Ivan Marchena, analyst at Forex Club group of companies, said that shares of United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) outperformed the market and grew 8.16% after President Vladimir Putin signed a decree to transfer 92.3% in the corporation to state industrial corporation Rostec from the federal ownership.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Lukoil	+4.72	4995.00	32.650
Sberbank	+3.87	188.01	19.833
Gazprom	+0.71	154.70	5.951
ALROSA	+0.51	95.72	1.929
Norilsk Nickel	-0.33	11025.00	1.879

(65.3101 rubles – U.S. $1)

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