Russian stocks rise as oil prices remain high

MOSCOW, Oct 16 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock rose on Monday on support from a recent growth of oil prices and a weak ruble, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index rose by 1.33% to 3,234.78 and the RTS increased by 1.25% to1,047.

“The foreign stock floors consolidated on Monday as tensions in the Middle East grow, which restraints the market from new purchases. Meanwhile, the MOEX Russia Index and the RTS Index still received support from the shares of oil companies, and the former indicator climbed above 3,200 for the first time since the beginning of September,” Veles Capital analyst Yelena Kozhukhova said.

The oil prices were little changed, but if Iran decides to intervene in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, the price will most likely continue climbing to U.S. $94.99 per barrel because of possible disruptions with supplies of Iranian oil. The geopolitical factors create are fraught with the risk of a further oil price jump, and prospects of dividend payments benefit the oil and gas sector, Kozhukhova said.

The shares of oil companies Lukoil, Rosneft, and RussNeft gained 1.17%, 0.45%, and 6.08%, respectively.

“The Russian stock market continued its stable growth. The oil prices showed great dynamics last week, which supports the shares of the Russian oil and gas sector,” Finam’s analyst Sergei Kaufman said.

A presidential decree on mandatory sales of foreign currency revenue has come in force today, but the currency market shrugged it off. The ruble remains weak, which provides further support to the shares of exporters, Kaufman said.

Freedom Finance Global analyst Vladimir Chernov said that the receipts of agricultural holding Rusagro increased by 4.05% to 1,403 rubles on the news that it received a grant from the Russian Information Technology Development Fund for creation of a management system for the agriculture industry based on the national software.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	+1.70	268.00	12.900
Astra	+20.12	560.00	10.932
Lukoil	+1.17	7328.50	9.825
Gazprom	+1.13	172.13	6.424
Tatneft	+0.29	630.10	2.899

(97.3075 rubles – U.S. $1)

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