Russian stocks rise as oil price jumps, Fed unlikely to raise rate

MOSCOW, Aug 15 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market increased on Monday, because the Brent price jumped and on expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve System (Fed) will not raise the key rate soon, analysts said.

The MICEX rose 0.51% to 1,977.28 and the RTS increased 1.84% to 972.10.

“Today the Russian stock market, which rose at the end of last week, continued rising on the back of a higher oil market,” Finam analyst Bogdan Zvarich said, adding that the Brent price increased and the MICEX index rose to new all-time highs.

Vitaly Manzhos, a senior analyst at Bank Obrazovanie, said that the dollar-denominated RTS rose due to the ruble strengthening against the U.S. dollar.

“The ruble was still supported by the euphoria on the oil market,” BKS Express analyst Ivan Kopeikin said. “Other factors which push the ruble higher include the beginning of a tax period in the country and the expansionary monetary policy of global central banks.”

Forex Club analyst Irina Rogova said that external conditions were positive as the U.S., European and Asian indices rose. Growth drivers included expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve System is unlikely to raise the key rate soon due to weak statistics of economic growth and retail sales and in anticipation of elections in the country, she said.

Locko-Bank’s deputy CEO Andrei Lyushin said that oil producers Lukoil and Rosneft rose, because investors believe that companies may take part in privatization of another oil company Bashneft, and were also supported by high oil prices. Rosneft rose 2.46% to 339 rubles and Lukoil increased 1.83% to 2,922.5 rubles.

Manzhos said that power producer Quadra Power Generation was still supported by strong financial results under Russian Accounting Standards (RAS) for January–June. The company soared 29.78% to 0.0039 rubles per common share and 39.68% to 0.00433 rubles per preferred share.

Novorossiysk Commercial Sea Port (NCSP), which rallied on August 12 on the news that the company’s board of directors recommended paying 0.467 rubles per share in dividends for January–June, fell 2.44% to 5.005 rubles in correction, the analyst said.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	+0,04	139,50	5,624
Gazprom	+0,12	138,00	2,868
Lukoil	+1,83	2922,50	2,346
VTB	-0,88	0,0674	1,811
Magnit	+0,32	10835,00	1,757

(64.3364 rubles – U.S. $1)

End