Russian stocks rise as ruble devaluation stops

MOSCOW, Apr 7 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market grew on Friday because the ruble’s devaluation stopped, which improved the mood of the national investors, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index rose by 0.40% to 2,508.39 and the RTS increased by 0.77% to 974.52.

“The Russian stock market switched into the green zone on Friday receiving support from suspension of the ruble’s devaluation,” Veles Capital’s analyst Yelena Kozhukhova said.

She also said that the background was neutral during the day. The futures for the U.S. stock indices ended the Friday trading session higher, but the key European bourses were closed on Friday for the Easter holidays, she said.

“The April 7 session on the Russian stock market started mixed, but the leading benchmarks switched into the green zone after that … The ruble’s fall affected the U.S. dollar-nominated RTS Index, but the benchmark managed to make a U-turn after the activity of the foreign currency buyers shrank,” leading analyst from Freedom Finance Global Natalya Milchakova said.

She also said that the news that budget deficit narrowed to 2.4 trillion rubles in March improved the mood of the national market.

Freedom Finance Global analyst Vladimir Chernov said that oil company Tatneft gained 1.05% to 393.50 rubles in reaction to the company’s U.S. $320 million purchase of a Turkish fuel company.

Milchakova also said that the shares of Far-Eastern Shipping Company (FESCO) were the growth leaders rising 22.31% to 45.45 rubles after the Moscow Arbitration Court had recovered 80.1 billion rubles and $13.8 million from the company’s co-owner Ziyavudin Magomedov and four offshore companies in favor of FESCO.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	+0.89	216.15	5.165
RussNeft	-1.94	152.00	3.206
FESCO	+22.31	45.45	2.851
Sovcomflot	+7.54	63.79	2.579
Gazprom	+0.44	172.36	2.572

(80.6713 rubles – U.S. $1)

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