Russian stocks rise on purchases bank, RUSAL, stable ruble

MOSCOW, Jul 14 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market grew on Friday on support from purchases in Bank Saint Petersburg and aluminum giant UC RUSAL and a relatively stable ruble, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index rose 0.59% to 2,902.72 and the RTS increased 0.60% to 1,014.62.

“The Russian stock market rose moderately as it received support from purchases in the shares of some companies and from a relatively stable ruble,” Veles Capital analyst Yelena Kozhukhova said.

The shares of Bank Saint Petersburg grew by 6.54% to 187 rubles and set a new record since 2008 as investors priced in their expectations of January–June dividends of the bank, Kozhukhova said.

RUSAL grew by 2.39% to 42.145 rubles in reaction to media reports that the European aluminum association stood against the E.U. sanctions on the company, she said.

Kozhukhova also said that the external background for the market was neutral as the European bourses remained almost flat in expectation of new drivers, while the futures for the U.S. stock indices were neutral as investors were waiting for the start of a trading session to react to the quarterly results of banking giants JPMorgan, Wells Fargo, and BlackRock. The Brent oil price lost around 0.5% in the middle of the session in consolidation after rapid growth.

Freedom Finance Global’s leading analyst Natalya Milchakova said that trade activity on the Russian market was low.

“Corporate news are still defining the vector of movement of the exchange instruments. The positive mood of the market players was supported by optimistic government forecasts about the growth of budget revenue in the second half of the year,”Milchakova said.

Vladimir Chernov from Freedom Finance Global also said that the shares of independent gas producer Novatek gained 1.19% to 1,440 rubles as investors continued pricing in the company’s recent operating report.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	+0.24	246.79	5.314
Lukoil	+0.31	5515.00	4.077
Yandex	+3.63	2554.00	3.626
Transneft prefs	+0.83	139950.00	2.551
Polyus	+1.25	10862.00	1.876

(90.1757 rubles – U.S. $1)

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