Russian stocks rise on US Fed statements, Gazprom’s new policy

MOSCOW, Dec 12 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market grew on Thursday, following an upward trend on the foreign markets and supported by growth in Gazprom on sanctions and dividend news, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index rose 0.96% to 2,982.86, and the RTS Index increased 2.31% to 1,496.96.

“The RTS has reached the level of 1,494 today. This way capitalization of the Russian market in U.S. dollars has reached the pre-crisis level of November 2013. Risk appetite, including for the ruble, was triggered by several factors, the key one is meetings of the central banks and a neutral reaction of the indices on global floors,” Yaroslav Kabakov, director for strategies at investment company Finam, said.

The U.S. Fed kept the key rate at 1.50–1.75% annually, which was an unsurprising decision. According to Fed’s head Jerome Powell, the authority does not plan to reduce the rate without significant threats to the economy, besides, the market has a growth potential. The stock market reacted with positive dynamics, Kabakov said.

The U.S. approved several bills imposing restrictions on Russia, but according to Andrei Kochetkov, analyst at Otkritie Broker, there is a high probability that they would not be adopted until the end of 2019.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said that the European energy policy must be formulated in Europe, not the U.S.

“This is not muttering by companies’ CEOs, but quite a clear-cut state position which raises the chances for Nord Stream-2 (gas pipeline project of Gazprom) to be completed without problems,” Kochetkov said:

Gazprom’s shares rose on the news, and the positive trend strengthened after the company presented a plan to raise dividends to at least 50% of the net profit under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) attributable to the shareholders in dividends for 2021, Kochetkov said.

According to Kochetkov, RusHydro’s shares fell 0.85% as the company reported a net profit decrease for January–September.

Unipro was the market outsider, decreasing 2.53% on the back of a dividend cutoff, he said.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Gazprom	+1.27	250.48	19.802
Lukoil	+0.43	6136	11.105
Sberbank	+0.3	241.05	8.731
Surgutneftegas	+7.03	48.2	7.227
Norilsk Nickel	+1.34	18.928	5.157

(63.5653 – U.S. $1)

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