Russian stocks rise backed by favorable global sentiment

MOSCOW, Mar 15 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market continued to grow on Monday, supported by a generally positive external background, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index grew 1.27% to 3,584.49 and the RTS increased 1.61% to 1,543.99.

“The MOEX Russia and the RTS indices continued confident growth on Monday to hit new highs of this year of 3,596 and 1,550, respectively. The market is reaching the overbought territory, but still can make some more upward leaps before correction,” Veles Broker analyst Yelena Kozhukhova said.

Globally, optimism started to be replaced with profit-taking, which looks reasonable after a series of previous gains, she added.

Otkritie Broker analyst Andrei Kochetkov said that the external background was positive enough with China demonstrating strong retail sales and industrial production figures for February.

Kozhukhova also said that pipe maker TMK was again among the top gainers surging another 16.16% after announcing a 9.67 ruble dividend for 2020 at the end of the previous week.

Aluminum maker RUSAL added 3.82% thanks to a rise in prices for aluminum to around U.S. $2.243 per tonne.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	+2.2	291.19	18.721
Norilsk Nickel	+1.01	23986	13.694
Gazprom	+1.11	236.39	10.445
Lukoil	+1.93	6478.5	10.416
Rosneft	+0.87	577.25	5.397

(73.5081 rubles – U.S. $1)

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