Russian stocks rise, market waits for US elections results

MOSCOW, Nov 8 (PRIME) -- Russian stocks grew on Tuesday as in the morning investors priced in the Monday’s improvement of external background and suspended activity later ahead of the announcement of results of the U.S. presidential elections, analysts said.

The MICEX rose 0.78% to 1,967.93 and the RTS increased 0.90% to 972.66.

“During the first hours of trade, local benchmarks priced in yesterday’s improvement of the external background with a lag, and the improvement became a significant growth driver for the Monday’s evening trading session on the local futures market. But the current external background is definitely unclear,” Vital Manzhos, a senior analyst at Bank Obrazovanie, said.

All world markets are hibernating waiting for preliminary results of the U.S. presidential elections, which will be published early on Wednesday, Manzhos said.

“The European markets experienced the ‘election silence’ day as markets remember the surprise of the Brexit referendum … The slight advantage of Hillary Clinton in opinion polls does not mean her victory,” Andrei Kochetkov, an analyst at Otkritie Broker, said.

Statements by Economic Development Minister Alexei Ulyukayev who said that the crisis in the economy is over and the gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to grow by 1% in 2017 were also good for the market, Kochetkov said.

Manzhos said that common shares of oil company Bashneft grew 2.19% to 3,401.50 rubles due to a statement of Central Bank Deputy Chairman Sergei Shvetsov that the buyback price of the papers for minority owners may be slightly above 3,700 rubles per share, which included a more than 8% premium to the current price.

Share of troubled airline Transaero rose 4.55% to 5.05 rubles after media reported that the probable scenario for restoration of the company’s activity is feasible, Manzhos said.

Shares of Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works (MMK) decreased 3.27% to 30.15 rubles after Monday’s publication that the net profit under jumped 65.4% in January–September, but revenue decreased 12.4%, Manzhos added.

Below are the MICEX’ five most active stocks on Tuesday:

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	+1.89	146.11	5.425
Gazprom	+0.59	139.32	2.917
ALROSA	+0.48	82.00	2.544
Bashneft	+2.89	3401.50	2.006
Lukoil	+1.30	3030.00	1.616

(63.9074 rubles – U.S. $1)

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