Russian stocks rise as oil price grows amid Brexit lull

MOSCOW, Jun 17 (PRIME) -- Russian stocks increased on Friday supported by a rise in oil prices and on the back of a lull around the Brexit, analysts said.

The MICEX rose 0.39% to 1,877.07 and the RTS increased 1.71% to 910.28.

“The Russian market left the sales mode by the end of the week and started to recover. The mood at local floors improved due to a return of interest in risks at the world level, which happened after a lull of concerns around the Brexit and a rebound of oil prices after a six-day contraction,” Igor Kovalyov, an analyst at InstaForex group of companies, said.

The Brent oil price went up 2.981% to U.S. $48.64 per barrel as of 6.03 p.m. Moscow time, according to the ICE exchange.

“The positive mood of stock markets was partially based on the fact that the Brexit campaign was stooped due to tragic events in the U.K., where one of members of the parliament was murdered. No poll data is published due to that, and it eased the tensions. The oil price showed positive dynamics because of that,” Irina Rogova, an analyst at Forex Club group of companies, said.

The weak U.S. dollar provided additional support to the Brent oil price, and the corresponding increase of the ruble’s exchange rate propelled the RTS index, Rogova said.

A flow of positive news from the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum also contributed to the Russian market’s growth today, Andrei Kochetkov, an analyst at Otkritie Broker, said.

State-run oil major Rosneft increased 1.38% to 320.65 rubles after it signed legally binding documents to establish a joint venture Yermak Neftegaz with British oil giant BP for geological exploration of fields in Siberia, Kovalyov said.

State-run power utility Russian Grids went up 0.40% to 0.6255 rubles as investors reacted to news about possible payments of more interim dividends in 2016, Kovalyov said.

Novorossiysk Commercial Sea Port (NCSP) outperformed the market and grew 10.19% to 4.65 rubles after the company’s board of directors set a buyback price of the company’s shares at 8.22 rubles per security, Rogova said.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	+1.26	128.70	8.667
Gazprom	-0.13	139.32	4.583
Norilsk Nickel	-0.59	8448.00	2.703
Lukoil	+0.88	2647.00	2.351
Uralkali	+2.48	190.00	1.562

(65.8618 rubles – U.S. $1)

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