Russian stocks rise on corporate stories, strong oil, gas, coal

MOSCOW, Oct 11 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market rose on Monday as local stories presented strong supportive background, and oil, gas and coal prices continued October’s upwards trend, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index rose 0.99% to 4,279.87 and the RTS increased 1.15% to 1,882.43.

“Russian stock indexes were in steady plus and continued to renew their highs, supported by high energy prices and corporate stories,” Yelena Kozhukhova, an analyst at Veles Capital, said.

Alexandra Ovchinnikova of Sber Assets Management said the Russian stock market started the week with growth against the backdrop of support from rising oil prices.

Optimistic sentiment also prevailed in Asian markets, with Japan’s Nikkei stock index rising for the third straight session after a decline in the spread of COVID-19 infections boosted investors’ hopes for a reviving economy, Ovchinnikova said.

Dmitry Babin of BCS Financial Group said, “Another pumping of liquidity into the banking system by the People’s Bank of China, as well as more lenient penalties of the state regulator to representatives of the IT-sector were among positive developments today.”

The U.S. market opened in the green zone mostly driven by commodities and energy stocks, Ovchinnikova said.

Coal producers Raspadskaya and Mechel jumped amid news of floods in China and the suspension of 60 out of 682 coal mines in Shanxi province, Kozhukhova said.

According to Kozhukhova, stocks of MTS and Tatneft fell after the dividend registers were closed.

Gold mining companies were mostly under pressure due to the suspension of price growth for the precious metal, Kozhukhova said.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Gazprom	+0.98	369.75	27.253
Sberbank	+3.75	387	24.284
Norilsk Nickel	-0.64	22620	10.620
ALROSA	+1.9	141.11	6.841
VTB Bank	+3.14	0.05631	6.271

(71.9882 rubles – U.S. $1)

End