Russian stocks rise backed by stronger ruble, corporate stories

MOSCOW, Jul 18 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market edged up on Tuesday as it was supported by the ruble’s positive dynamics and optimistic corporate news, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index grew 1.27% to 2,954.52 and the RTS increased 1.50% to 1,024.98.

“The Russian stock market stayed in the positive territory at the end of the main trading session on Tuesday thanks to the support of corporate news and the ruble… The ruble looked stable and added up to 0.5% against the U.S. dollar, the euro and the yuan,” Veles Broker analyst Yelena Kozhukhova said.

Power company TGC-1 soared by 15.35% without fundamental reasons ahead of the release of the company’s operating results for April–June.

Precious metals producers Polymetal International and Polyus were rising as the gold price managed to break through the short-term resistance line of U.S. $1,980 per ounce.

Oil company RussNeft added 4.36% after it had reported a RAS net profit doubling on the year in January–June.

Diamond producer ALROSA continued its rally jumping by 3.36% to 81.21 rubles, the highest level since April 2022. The company plans to begin production at the huge Mir mine in 2032, and investors also hope for interim dividends for 2023.

Multi-industry holding Sistema lost 0.86% as it was trading ex-dividend.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	+0.7	247.1	7.628
Gazprom	+2.27	174.5	6.944
Lukoil	+0.58	5535	6.010
Polyus	+2.58	11440	5.140
Transneft (prefs	+0.25	140350	4.376

(90.4217 rubles – U.S. $1)

End