Russian stocks rise on statements from forum, growing oil price

MOSCOW, Sep 2 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market closed in the green zone on Friday as investor appetite for risky assets was spurred by statements made during the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, and due to an oil price increase, analysts said.

The MICEX grew 1.36% to 2,003.77 and the RTS surged 2.64% to 969.86.

“The news from the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok and a rising oil price imbued the Russian trade participants with some confidence,” Otkritie Broker analyst Andrei Kochetkov said.

An announcement by President Vladimir Putin that he is ready to discuss an oil output freeze with a Saudi deputy crown prince was one of the most positive pieces of news during the forum, Kochetkov said.

Energy Minister Alexander Novak added to the upbeat mood, saying that the Energy Ministry will consider privatization of oil company Bashneft in September, Kochetkov said.

During the trading session, the MICEX hit an all-time high of 2,000.49 as VTB and Rosneft surged, analysts said.

Putin said that Russia and the U.S. can soon reach an agreement over Syria, and investors possibly hope for an upcoming easing of tensions between Moscow and the Western states, Locko-Bank Deputy CEO Andrei Lyushin said.

Raiffeisen Capital analyst Sofya Kirsanova said that the U.S. labor market statistics calmed down investor concerns over the key rate increase in September.

VTB outperformed the market continuing a trend that started on Thursday. “What we have seen was most probably a postponed reaction of market participants to the recent publication of the financial results of the credit organization under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS),” Vitaly Manzhos, a senior analyst at Bank Obrazovanie, said.

He said that a competitor of the bank, Sberbank, is overbought and VTB might seem a reasonable alternative to investors.

Oversold Rosneft rebounded. Another report of expected privatization in 2016, this time announced by Putin, made investors open long positions for this security, Manzhos said.

Mechel corrected downwards by 1.94% to 70.9 rubles per share after a recent growth, he said.

Mostotrest fell 1.84% to 85.3 rubles because the company was hit by individual sanctions of the U.S., Manzhos said.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	+1.82	146.88	7.837
VTB	+5.06	0.07375	4.417
Gazprom	+0.41	135.55	2.118
Rosneft	+2.52	349.9	1.738
Lukoil	+2.21	3,003	1.732

(65.2566 rubles – U.S. $1)

End