Russian stocks rise on US debt deal, Erdogan election victory

MOSCOW, May 29 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market grew on Monday on support from an agreement to increase the U.S. state debt ceiling and the victory of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the latest presidential runoff, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index rose 1.86% to 2,732.00 and the RTS increased 0.81% to 1,064.18.

“The Russian markets started the week in the green zone … The MOEX Russia Index climbed above the psychologically important level of 2,700 today to set a new annual high. The agreement to increase of the U.S. state debt threshold caused moderate optimism in the risky assets, including the Russian shares,” Anton Kravchenko, head of the stock department of managing company Pervaya said.

Also, investors still expect new dividend stories to come from the market in general and from oil major Rosneft in particular, he said.

Freedom Finance Global leading analyst Natalya Milchakova said that the U.S. state debt deal reduces the risk of the country defaulting and causing a deep crisis in the global economy.

“The additional positive momentum for the Russian oil and gas sector came from the victory of the current Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the latest elections,” Milchakova said.

Continuation of his term means deeper cooperation with Russia in imports of hydrocarbons and creation of a gas hub in Turkey for transportation to South Europe, she said.

Yelena Kozhukhova from Veles Capital said that the shares of real estate developer Samolet Group grew by 9.15% to 2,988 rubles after the company’s board of directors approved a 19 billion ruble buyback of shares, which the company will carry out until the end of 2023.

Shipping company Sovcomflot gained 11.11% to 74.89 rubles as investors continued pricing in the recent release of the company’s financial results for January–March and confirmation of its plans to adhere to the current dividend policy of paying 50% of the adjusted net profit in dividends, she said.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	+1.81	252.59	14.818
Lukoil	+4.47	5533.00	10.875
Samolet	+9.15	2988.00	5.226
Gazprom	-0.29	164.00	5.177
VTB	+0.22	0.0233	4.655

(79.9667 rubles – U.S. $1)

End