Russian stocks rise in line with global floors, oil prices

MOSCOW, Mar 26 (PRIME) -- Russian stocks closed higher on Tuesday backed by positive dynamics on global floors and growing oil prices, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index rose 0.60% to 2,512.63 and the RTS increased 0.13% to 1,229.96.

“The MOEX Russia Index and RTS remained on the positive territory by the end of trading on Tuesday paying no significant attention to the U.S. bill against operations of Russian energy firms in Europe,” Veles Capital analyst Yelena Kozhukhova said.

Trading in the U.S. started with growth of three main indices, which were adding around 1% by the end of the trading session in Russia, she said. Positive moods were seen on European floors.

Oil quotations accelerated growth by the end of the day and were adding 1–2%.

Power producer Wholesale Generating Company-2 (WGC-2) and gold producer Polyus were among growth leaders, rising 4.72% and 3.31%, respectively. Preferred shares of metals and mining giant Mechel and independent gas producer Novatek were among outsiders, losing 1.11% and 1.1%, respectively.

Fertilizer producer Acron dropped 0.22% after reporting that its net profit fell 7% to 13.32 billion rubles in 2018, as calculated under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	+1.87	218.00	17.634
Norilsk Nickel	+0.14	14300.00	3.520
Gazprom	-0.77	151.12	3.285
Lukoil	+1.2	5809.00	2.819
Sberbank pref	+2.09	190.90	1.956

(64.4993 rubles – U.S. $1)

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