Russian stocks rise on growing oil prices, foreign markets

MOSCOW, Mar 21 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market grew thanks to an oil price and foreign markets' increase, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index firmed by 0.04% to 2,398.15, and the RTS index increased by 0.42% to 983.95.

"An upward correction in the absence of new negative factors on the European and U.S. banks was seen on the foreign markets on Tuesday. The MOEX Russia Index and the RTS index hit their new highs since September 2022 and February this year, after which the growth stopped near the resistance levels of 2,430 and 1,000 respectively," Veles Capital analyst Yelena Kozhukhova said.

The European markets grew with the Euro Stoxx 50 adding 1.7% by the middle of the Russian session. The U.S. S&P 500 futures increased by about 0.7%. The nearest Brent and WTI futures grew by 0.5% to the resistance notches of U.S. $74.5 and $68 respectively. According to Kozhukhova, the background for the Russian session was moderately positive.

A visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to Moscow contributed to growth of the Novatek share price, as new agreements, including on gas supplies are expected to be signed during his stay, the analyst said. Besides, the company continues to grow after the board of directors recommended paying 60.58 rubles per share in dividends for 2022.

Freedom Finance Global analyst Vladimir Chernov said that GlobalTrans also increased 3.21% on expectations of a higher trade amount with China.

According to Kozhukhova, the gold producers fell on the gold price decrease. Some companies in different sectors started correcting downwards in the evening.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	+0.45	204.64	21.990
Gazprom	-2.03	172.13	16.126
VTB	-3.84	0.018265	6.610
Novatek	+1.23	1136	4.289
Lukoil	-0.04	4227	3.094

(77.2422 rubles – U.S. $1)

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