Russian stocks rise backed by oil, foreign markets

MOSCOW, Mar 30 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market grew on Thursday amid a generally positive trend on the global stock and energy markets, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index grew 0.21% to 2,465.93 and the RTS increased 0.19% to 1,006.43.

“The MOEX Russia Index and the RTS were stable and generally continued the upward trend to the previous peaks of 2,492 (the highest since September 2022) and 1,029 (the highest of 2023),” Veles Broker analyst Yelena Kozhukhova said.

Positive sentiments persisted on external stock markets as there were no negative signals from the banking sector, and the Brent oil price grew by 1% to around U.S. $79.5 per barrel, she added.

PSB Bank senior analyst Yegor Zhilnikov believes that the MOEX Russia Index is near an important resistance line of 2,490 and can demonstrate further growth if the level is broken through.

Kozhukhova said that ordinary shares of oil company RussNeft were among the best gainers rising by 19.89% to the highest level since February 2022 without any fundamental news.

The shares of oil company Tatneft reached the peaks since November 2022 on dividend expectations, she also said.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	-0.27	217.4	7.900
RussNeft	+19.89	125.4	4.351
UWC	+27.01	175.4	3.402
Gazprom	+0.19	171.27	2.245
Lukoil	+1.07	4388.5	1.783

(76.9781 rubles – U.S. $1)

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