Russian stocks rise on corporate news, Iranian nuclear talks

MOSCOW, Apr 2 (PRIME) -- Russian stocks rose on Thursday backed by a central bank’s decision to retain stake in the Moscow Exchange, other corporate news, market rumors that no compromise in talks on the Iranian nuclear program was reached in Lausanne, as well as amid strengthening of the ruble, analysts said.

The MICEX rose 1.04% to 1,679.24 and the RTS increased 2.55% to 933.58.

“The Russian stock market continued growing on Thursday, with some corporate news being a trigger of the growth,” Alexander Kostyukov, analyst at Veles Capital, said.

In particular, the central bank’s Chairwoman Elvira Nabiullina said that there is no need to sell a regulator’s stake in the Moscow Exchange and this decision was favored by investors, the analyst said. The central bank’s stake amounted to 11.73%, as of March 16.

Russian stocks grew despite a downward correction of the oil price (below U.S. $56 per barrel) due to market rumors that compromise in talks on the Iranian nuclear program in Lausanne was not reached, Anton Fomin, analyst at InstaForex, said.

The growth of the dollar-denominated RTS was technically supported by the ruble strengthening to below 57 against the U.S. dollar, Natalya Samoilova, head of Golden Hills-Kapital’s analytical department, said.

Moscow Exchange’s shares rose 7.44% due to the central bank’s decision to keep its stake in the bourse.

Surgutneftegas’ preferred shares rose 4.74% in anticipation of a generous dividend payout, Kostyukov said.

UTair rose 4.06% as the debt-ridden airline will get state guarantees worth 19 billion rubles, Fomin said.

On Friday, investors are likely to close positions even if there are no pressing factors, Andrei Dirgin, analyst at Alfa-Forex, said, adding that results of the negotiations in Lausanne will influence the trading session.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	+2.20	65.92	9.016
Gazprom	+0.63	143.90	5.052
Norilsk Nickel	-4.26	10090.00	3.735
Lukoil	+0.93	2780.50	2.477
Magnit	+1.88	11971.00	1.659

(58.3536 rubles – U.S. $1)

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