Russian stocks rise following global floors, crude prices

MOSCOW, Oct 9 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market edged up on Wednesday thanks to a positive global environment with foreign stock exchanges and crude trading higher, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index grew 0.19% to 2,713.02 and the RTS rose 0.85% to 1,317.48.

“The Russian stock market is ignoring risks of a possible failure of trade negotiations between the U.S. and China mainly thanks to statements of the Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell… Purchases also prevail in Europe, which creates a positive external background,” Otkritie Broker analyst Andrei Kochetkov said.

Veles Broker analyst Yelena Kozhukhova said that the major U.S. benchmarks added some 0.5–0.8% by the end of the trading session in Russia after China had announced its readiness to strike a partial trade agreement with the U.S. if no import duties are introduced on October 15.

Crude prices were seen around 1% higher, she added.

Kochetkov also said that independent gas producer Novatek, steelmaker Novolipetsk Steel (NLMK) and gold producer Polyus slid as they were trading ex-dividend, but the stocks did not influence the domestic market much.

Kozhukhova said that mobile operator MTS was among the top performers surging 2.97% to 268.65 rubles on the news the company had canceled delisting from the New York Stock Exchange.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	+0.74	227.1	9.042
MTS	+2.97	268.65	3.344
Gazprom	-0.01	223.18	3.330
Lukoil	-0.3	5304	2.825
Norilsk Nickel	+0.46	16104	2.712

(64.8672 rubles – U.S. $1)

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