Russian stocks rise on higher oil, thaw in relations with West

MOSCOW, Nov 18 (PRIME) -- Russian stocks rose on Wednesday on the back of stronger oil and ruble, and President Vladimir Putin’s proposal to reschedule Ukrainian debt, one of the signs of softening of relations with the West, analysts said.

The MICEX rose 1.30% to 1,810.48 and the RTS increased 1.64% to 876.56.

“The foreign background remained positive for the Russian market today. Oil grew on the data from the American Petroleum Institute (API) that reported lower U.S. reserves. Moreover, the dollar fell against global currencies in anticipation of publication of a protocol of a Federal Reserve System’s meeting,” Vasily Tanurkov, deputy head of investment company Veles Capital’s stock market analysis department, said.

The stock market was significantly supported by Putin’s proposal on Ukrainian debt rescheduling made during the G20 summit, Zerich Capital deputy CEO Andrei Vernikov said.

The ruble strengthening against the dollar technically supported the dollar-denominated RTS.

Telecom giant Rostelecom increased 2.97% to 93.7 ruble after the company had decided to pay 75% of its free cash flow in dividends, Tanurkov said.

On Thursday, the Russian market will be mainly influenced by data of the U.S. Department of Energy on oil reserves and output, the analyst said.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	+1.46	104.00	14.143
Gazprom	+3.31	147.47	7.520
Norilsk Nickel	+2.95	6940.00	3.299
Lukoil	+0.06	2526.00	3.114
VTB	+0.20	0.0761	1.566

(65.4799 rubles – U.S. $1)

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