Russian stocks rise on positive environment over COVID-19 vaccine

MOSCOW, Sep 14 (PRIME) -- Russian stocks grew on Monday together with the majority of foreign bourses due to advancements in development of the COVID-19 vaccine by AstraZeneca, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index rose 0.61% to 2,928.38 and the RTS increased 0.44% to 1,228.48.

“External bourses are charged with the positive mood today due to reports that tests of the anti-COVID-19 vaccine from British company AstraZeneca, which is the closest one to mass production among all vaccines, have been resumed after a break caused by additional checks from a regulator,” Valery Yemelyanov, analyst at investment company Freedom Finance, said.

Asian stocks closed mainly in the green zone, European bourses remained neutral on Monday, while U.S. indices grew by 1.5–2.0% after the opening, so these dynamics supported the RTS index while the MOEX Russia Index gained more ground thanks to an increased demand for Russian assets as the ruble falls, Yemelyanov said.

“The national market set up its course for growth at the first minutes of trade today. The ruble was rising simultaneously, but news about analysis of samples of (Russian opposition leader Alexei) Navalny by three laboratories made its dynamics change for a negative one. Nevertheless, the stock market kept its positive mood,” Andrei Kochetkov, senior analyst for global research at Otkritie Broker, said.

Shares of gold producers Polymetal International and Polyus were weaker than the market and lost 2.69% to 1,866 rubles and 1.27% to 16,850rubles, respectively. Dynamics in shares of gold companies reflect uncertainty in further growth of gold prices, Kochetkov said.

Yemelyanov also said that shares of diamond mining giant ALROSA contracted by 2.18% to 73.31 rubles on Monday in correction after overheating during several previous trade sessions.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	+2.71	227.07	13.524
Gazprom	-0.25	177.60	6.488
Yandex	+1.71	4716.60	4.814
Norilsk Nickel	+0.64	19478.00	4.696
Lukoil	+0.22	4736.00	4.345

(74.8896 rubles – U.S. $1)

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