Russian stocks rise as high oil prices spur market up

MOSCOW, Aug 29 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market grew on Monday as the increase of oil prices the national shares, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index rose by 1.21% to 2,296.33 and the RTS increased by 1.26% to 1,197.99.

“The Russian stock market continued its growth on Monday in spite of a significant worsening of the situation on the foreign stock floors. The shares receive support from the stable energy market, where the Brent oil price stayed above U.S. $102 per barrel, and also from expectations of the ruble weakening,” Igor Dodonov, analyst at investment company Finam, said.

Roman Blinov, senior analyst at investment company Russ-Invest, also said that the growth of oil prices provide stabilization support for the Russian market.

“Rumors are spreading on the Russian financial market about the new parameters of the so-called budget rule, the use of which should exert pressure on the Russian ruble. Trading on the financial market takes into account this factor that will come in force in the future. Speculators expect the foreign currencies to increase, while the stock market is taking into account the rising prices for commodities and possible devaluation of the ruble,” Blinov said.

Dodonov also said that oil company Tatneft published a good financial report for January–June, showing a 33.4% year-on-year growth of the net profit attributable to shareholders, as calculated under International Financial Reporting Standards. The ordinary shares of Tatneft gained 1.00% to 454.50 rubles, while the preferred shared added 0.72% to 418 rubles.

The revenue of multi-industry holding Sistema increased by 20% on the year to 213.8 billion rubles in April–June, even though its adjusted net loss widened to 10.8 billion rubles from 3.4 billion rubles. The company grew by 0.55% to 14.58 rubles, he said.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	+0.59	131.17	5.343
Lukoil	+1.73	4186.00	1.884
Novatek	+0.16	1158.00	1.135
Rosneft	+1.60	367.30	0.962
PIK Group	+6.22	772.00	0.934

(60.0924 rubles – U.S. $1)

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