Russian stocks rise despite oil price drop, mixed background

MOSCOW, Apr 26 (PRIME) -- Russian stocks closed with a small growth on Friday after falling the entire trading day amid an oil price drop and a mixed foreign background, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index rose 0.11% to 2,563.72 and the RTS increased 0.08% to 1,247.01.

“On Friday, the Russian stock market managed to stop the decline despite a worsening of the foreign background. The dynamics of the energy market, where Brent oil rolled back from multi-month highs, losing more than 3%, could be the main reason for sales,” Promsvyazbank chief analyst Bogdan Zvarich said.

“At the same time, the situation on Western stock markets was neutral for our shares. In Europe, main indices were demonstrating mixed dynamics by the evening, and in the U.S., Dow Jones and S&P 500 were losing within 0.1% after first hours of trading,” he said.

Oil company Tatneft was among growth leaders, with preferred and common shares jumping by 6.73% and 3.94%, respectively, as the company’s board of directors recommended paying 84.91 rubles per share in dividends for 2018.

National top lender Sberbank was among outsiders, with common shares losing 2.03%.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	-2.03	223.18	21.097
Lukoil	-1.07	5588.00	3.762
Gazprom	+1.06	161.00	2.818
Tatneft	+3.94	767.30	2.332
Norilsk Nickel	+1.73	14720.00	2.012

(64.6794 rubles – U.S. $1)

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