Russian stocks rise on gas price surge, dividend promises

MOSCOW, Aug 30 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market increased on Tuesday as the prices for gas continued to increase, pushing Gazprom higher, and abundance of news on dividend payouts added to the dynamics, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index firmed by 0.45% to 2,306.62, and the RTS index rose by 1.18% to 1,212.10.

"Gazprom added 3.2% (in the middle of the session) on the back of a gas price surge above U.S. $2,500 in Europe for the first time since March," Finam analyst Ksenia Lapshina said.

The market was volatile during the day, as the prices for oil corrected downwards. "Oil lost in price actively in the second half of the day. The Brent price lost about $3. Statements from Iraq were highly contradictory," Otkritie Research leading analyst Andrei Kochetkov said.

He added that according to the local companies, unrest in Iraq did not affect oil production significantly, while foreign employees were preparing for evacuation after attacks on the northern deposits. Unless there is a new force majeure, the prices will decline because the central banks are set to toughen their monetary policies, Kochetkov said.

Lapshina said that Russian investors tended to buy a broad range of shares, including oil companies, regardless of the oil price correction.

Lapshina said that Tatneft grew during the day after the board of directors voted for paying 32.71 rubles per share in dividends for January–June. At the closing of the session, the company erased gains (+0.22% preferred shares, -0.07% common shares).

Kochetkov said that RUSAL decreased 0.72% despite plans to pay dividends for the first time in five years. Beluga Group rose 2.38% on the plans to pay 150 rubles per share in interim dividends.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Gazprom	+7.37	204	22.182
Sberbank	-0.85	130.05	6.707
Yandex	+4.04	2190	2.212
Lukoil	-1.1	4.140	2.053
Rosneft	-1.63	361.3	1.404

(60.3636 rubles – U.S. $1)

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