Russian stocks rise backed by corporate news, oil price recovery

MOSCOW, Nov 21 (PRIME) -- Russian stocks increased on Thursday supported by corporate news, including gas giant Gazprom’s plans to sell a quasi-treasury stake, and a recovery of oil prices, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index rose 0.21% to 2,942.60 and the RTS increased 0.44% to 1,454.74.

“The MOEX Russia Index and RTS tried to consolidate in plus by the end of trading on Thursday on the back of corporate stories and a recovery of oil prices,” Veles Capital analyst Yelena Kozhukhova said.  

Trading in the U.S. started with a decrease of three main indices, which were losing 0.1–0.3% by the end of the Russian session. Trading in Europe was on a moderately pessimistic note.

Oil prices were adding slightly over 1% by the end of the day, the analyst said.

Gazprom was among growth leaders, with its shares rising 4% during the day and closing 2.56% higher on reports that the company’s unit Gazprom Gazoraspredeleniye will sell a 3.59% stake in the parent company on the Moscow Exchange.

Coal producer Raspadskaya rose 2.02%.

Gold producer Polyus and power utility Wholesale Generating Company-2 (WGC-2) were among outsiders, losing 2.96% and 2.59%, respectively.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Gazprom	+2.56	254.35	56.981
Sberbank	-0.26	237.15	5.837
Lukoil	+0.05	6087.50	2.656
Norilsk Nickel	+0.07	17.658	2.226
Yandex	+1.38	2549.00	1.923

(64.0213 rubles – U.S. $1)

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