Russian stocks rise in line with oil, ruble, global floors

MOSCOW, Jul 24 (PRIME) -- Russian stocks increased on Tuesday backed by growing oil prices, a stronger ruble, and positive dynamics on global floors, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index rose 0.75% to 2,278.30 and the RTS increased 1.23% to 1,143.81.

“The MOEX Russia Index and the RTS Index remained on the positive territory by the end of trading on Tuesday, having slightly intensified growth,” Veles Broker analyst Yelena Kozhukhova said. “The Russian stock market is finishing the second day in a row with growth, pointing to the fact that “bulls” are strengthening their positions and regaining the advantage,” she said.

The ruble continued strengthening against the dollar and euro, Kozhukhova said.

Trading on the U.S. stock exchanges opened with growth of main indices, which have been recently adding 0.8–0.9%, and optimistic moods were seen on European floors.

Oil quotations remained in plus by the end of the day and were adding around 1% on expectations that a limited supply will remain on the market, Kozhukhova said.

Metals giant Norilsk Nickel was among growth leaders, jumping by 4.32%, while gold producer Polyus added 3.62% after reporting that its gold production increased 23% on the year to 602,000 ounces in April–June.

Coal producer Raspadskaya lost 3.71% on reports that its net profit fell by 39.3% on the year to 4.794 billion rubles in January–June, as calculated under Russian Accounting Standards (RAS).

Power producer Unipro decreased 0.18% after reporting that its RAS net profit halved on the year to 10.4 billion rubles in January–June and power output fell 7.4% on the year to 22.688 billion kilowatt-hours in the period.

Mineral fertilizer producer Acron added 0.41% on reports that its output rose 2.5% on the year to 3.072 million tonnes in January–June.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	+3.37	215.45	11.521
Norilsk Nickel	+4.32	10760.00	2.992
Gazprom	+0.35	138.85	1.860
Lukoil	-0.41	4322.00	1.453
Magnit	-2.45	4180.00	1.231

(63.1957 rubles – U.S. $1)

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