Russian stocks rise on geopolitical lull, Chinese econ forecasts

MOSCOW, Mar 6 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market grew on Monday thanks to the absence of geopolitical news and the modest economic growth expectations of the Chinese authorities, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index rose 0.96% to 2,294.12 and the RTS increased 1.36% to 958.26.

“The Russian stock market was in the green zone and even hit the ruble benchmark’s record since September 2022 while the geopolitical background was neutral,” Veles Capital analyst Yelena Kozhukhova said.

The background for the Russian market was mixed during the day as the European bourses grew, while the futures for the U.S. stock indices remained almost flat, and the Brent oil price lost around 1.5%, she said.

“The Russian market decided not to think much about the Chinese authorities’ moderate economic growth plans this year. In the end, a 5% growth is noticeably higher than the 3% increase in 2022 and significantly higher than the growth of economies of Europe and the U.S.,” Otkritie Research’s leading analyst for global research Andrei Kochetkov said.

The growing trade turnover between Russia and China is a direct consequence of the Chinese economic expansion, he added.

Freedom Finance Global analyst Vladimir Chernov said that the depositary receipts of rail cargo operator Globaltrans gained 2.82% to 360.50 rubles because Russian export flows are shifting to the East with the company being one of the main beneficiaries.

He also said that the High Court of Justice in London had obliged tycoon Vladimir Potanin to notify aluminum giant UC RUSAL about his intent to reduce his stake in metals giant Norilsk Nickel to below 11.25%, and the report caused Norilsk Nickel to fall by 0.16% to 14,538 rubles.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	+0.61	172.21	10.354
Mosenergo	+14.48	2.3165	2.939
Lukoil	+2.02	4112.00	2.938
Gazprom	+0.89	163.71	2.893
Moscow Exchange	+4.60	123.37	1.726

(75.4592 rubles – U.S. $1)

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