Russian stocks rise on proposed aid to Greece, oil limits growth

MOSCOW, Jun 29 (PRIME) -- Russian stocks increased on Friday following a trend of European floors that were encouraged by a proposal of E.U. leading countries to give extra financial aid to Greece, but the domestic growth was limited by moderately weak oil, analysts said.

The MICEX rose 0.76% to 1,644.45 and the RTS increased 0.18% to 943.01.

“Investors’ appetite for the market was heated up by the decision of three international creditors of Greece (Germany, France and Italy) to prolong a program of financial aid until November and to provide 15.3 billion euros more to it,” Sofya Kirsanova, an analyst at Raiffeisen Capital, said.

At the same time, the Russian stock market was put under pressure by moderately weak oil prices, with Brent falling to below U.S. $63 per barrel by the end of trading, according to Vasily Tanurkov, an analyst at Veles Capital.

Large electronics retailer M.Video fell 11.82% on closure of the shareholders’ register for dividends, Kirsanova said.

Stocks of fertilizer producer Uralkali rose 3.85% on the news on a possible purchase of Germany’s K+S by Canada’s Potash Corp that may contribute to stabilization of prices for potash fertilizers, Tanurkov said.

Debt-ridden metals and mining group Mechel rose 2.76% after its creditor Gazprombank reached a preliminary agreement on debt restructuring and may buy a part of Mechel’s debt to another creditor Sberbank, Tanurkov said.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	-1.15%	70.60	6.954
Rosneft	-3.63%	229.90	2.538
Gazprom	+1.03%	145.18	2.424
Magnit	+4.10%	11680.00	1.921
Lukoil	-0.18%	2401.70	1.844

(54.6026 rubles – U.S. $1)

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