Russian stocks rise in line with European floors, oil prices

MOSCOW, Nov 20 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market edged up on Friday encouraged by the positive dynamics of the global energy market with the Brent oil price reaching U.S. $45 per barrel, and positivity on European bourses, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index grew 0.15% to 3,051.04 and the RTS increased 0.30% to 1,262.69.

“The MOEX Russia Index and the RTS index tried to consolidate in the positive territory above the support levels of 3,050 and 1,255, respectively. The market has spent the entire week in the consolidation regime with short-term hikes so the indices managed to reach multi-week highs,” Veles Broker analyst Yelena Kozhukhova said.

Otkritie Broker analyst Andrei Kochetkov said that the transportation and the energy sectors outperformed the market thanks to the Brent oil price rising above U.S. $45 per barrel and the positive dynamics of the European stock exchanges.

Kozhukhova said that oil major Rosneft continued growth triggered earlier this week by a sale of 10% in Vostok Oil, a joint project with Neftegazholding, to a Singaporean firm. The share surged by another 2.28% on Friday to reach the highest level from February.

Titanium giant VSMPO-Avisma added 0.51% in light of the start of its buyback program, Kochetkov added.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	-0.94	238	10.698
Rosneft	+2.28	462.15	5.789
Gazprom	-0.77	182.74	5.374
Sistema	+1.24	32.753	3.435
Lukoil	+0.09	4920.5	3.161

(76.2627 rubles – U.S. $1)

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