Russian stocks rise on strengthening crude, corporate positivity

MOSCOW, Jun 7 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market was consolidating in the green territory on Friday thanks to a new set of encouraging corporate news from the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum and the Brent crude price surging to over U.S. $63 per barrel on expectations of OPEC+ output cut deal prolongation, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index grew 0.05%% to 2,729.61 and the RTS rose 0.46% to 1,325.95.

“The Russian stock market was consolidating again on a positive external background… The trading volume was lower than on the previous day,” Otkritie Broker analyst Andrei Kochetkov said.

Top lender Sberbank was among the best performers ahead of the record date slated for June 10, the common stock gained 1.38% to 248.28 rubles, and the preferred stock 1.51% to 219.6 rubles.

Power grid operator Rosseti and power company RusHydro again outperformed the market adding 3.07% to 1.3490 rubles and 2.40% to 0.5719 rubles, respectively, in light of positive corporate news from the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.

The market was also supported by strengthening oil with the Brent crude price jumping to above $63 per barrel after Saudi Arabia’s Oil Minister Khalid Al-Falih said that the participants of the OPEC+ oil output cut deal agree that it must be prolonged.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank, common	+1.38	248.28	16.950
Gazprom	-0.41	230.5	9.790
Lukoil	-0.46	5133	6.610
Norilsk Nickel	-0.35	13802	2.693
Sberbank, preferred	+1.51	219.6	2.481

(65.2340 rubles – U.S. $1)

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