Russian stocks rise following European bourses, oil prices

MOSCOW, Jul 10 (PRIME) – The Russian stocks grew on Friday as the market mood was supported by the European bourses and improvements on the oil market in the evening, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index rose 0.67% to 2,800.94 and the RTS increased 0.91% to 1,245.65.

“The MOEX Russia Index and the RTS Index switched into the green zone at the end of the trading session thanks to a better mood of market players in the world,” Yelena Kozhukhova, analyst at Veles Capital, said.

The Euro Stoxx 5 index gained by about 1% as of the closing of the Russian trading session, as the region stays moderately optimistic while the virus situation remains relatively stable. The oil prices also started to grow noticeably in the evening after a significant contraction in the morning as a recent monthly report from the International Energy Agency produced some optimistic signals for the market, Kozhukhova said.

The Brent oil price gained 1.42% to U.S. $42.95 per barrel as of 8.18 p.m. Moscow time, according to the ICE exchange.

Valery Yemelyanov, analyst at investment company Freedom Finance, said that the stock markets ended the week mixed with the U.S. and Asian stock indices falling, but the European bourses rising. Demand for defensive assets is rising, but the RTS Index and the MOEX Russia Index managed to stay close to the previous closing, waiting for the start of the reporting season in the U.S. and releases of key macro statistics next week, he said.

Yemelyanov also said that the Moscow Exchange gained 2.06% to 126.56 rubles on the news about growth in the trade volumes in the summer and the bourse’s plans to offer foreign securities.

Kozhukhova also said that steelmaker Novolipetsk Steel (NLMK) and diamond mining giant ALROSA fell by 3.79% to 134.90 rubles and by 2.81% to 64.06 rubles, respectively, due to dividend cut-offs. ALROSA also published weak operating data for June, saying that it sold only $31 million worth of diamonds in the month, down from $222 million in the same month of 2019.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	+1.67	212.60	9.881
Gazprom	+1.13	201.70	7.025
Lukoil	+0.26	5100.00	4.845
Polyus	+0.15	13299.50	4.297
Norilsk Nickel	-0.12	18574.00	4.157

(70.8800 rubles – U.S. $1)

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