Russian stocks rise on Samolet, Novolipetsk Steel purchases

MOSCOW, Jul 12 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market grew on Wednesday propelled by real estate developer Samolet and Novolipetsk Steel, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index rose 1.28% to 2,896.83 and the RTS increased 0.74% to 1,004.98.

“The Russian stock market tried to push forward with the increase thanks to the positive external background and purchases of some shares … Investors in Russia hope for positive corporate signals and for support from the external background, which may come in the form of higher oil prices in the short term,” Veles Capital’s analyst Yelena Kozhukhova said.

The shares of real estate developer Samolet Group gained 1.14% to 3,292 rubles as investors still priced its Tuesday statements about improvements in operating performance in January–June as compared with the same period of the previous year and expectations of dividend payments, she said.

Steelmaker Novolipetsk Steel (NLMK) rose by 2.03% to 184.90 rubles after the company’s transformer steel plant in India reached its full capacity, Kozhukhova said.

“The Russian markets continued their growth after a short correction on Tuesday … The external background was positive as the oil prices rose and the global markets were in the green. Investors expect consumer inflation in the U.S. to fall,” Ivan Kapustyansky, analyst at managing company Pervaya, said.

The U.S. stock markets rose on Tuesday and the futures for the indices continued to increase on Wednesday in expectation of slower inflation, while the Brent oil price climbed close to U.S. $79 per barrel on investor optimism about a possible change of stance of the U.S. regulator if inflation slows down, Kapustyansky said.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	0.00	248,00	6.800
Lukoil	+1.40	5515.00	5.087
Gazprom	+0.95	170.45	3.610
VTB	-0.75	0.023185	3.002
Sovcomflot	+2.11	95.35	2.548

(90.5045 rubles – U.S. $1)

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