Russian stocks rise on strong oil prices, rising US benchmarks

MOSCOW, Jun 25 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market edged down in the first part of the day on Friday, but then managed to reverse, backed by increasing U.S. markets and strong crude prices, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index grew 0.22% to 3,831.84 and the RTS increased 0.43% to 1,672.08.

“Global stock indices demonstrated mixed dynamics in the last day of the trading week.” Yevgeny Mironyuk, analyst at investment company Freedom Finance, said.

Otkritie Broker analyst Andrei Kochetkov said that almost all sectors of the Moscow Exchange were seen lower in the first half of the trading session.

The main U.S. benchmarks traded higher, and the European bourses were seen mixed, Mironyuk added.

Artyom Tuzov, executive director of the capital market department at investment company Univer Capital, said that shares of metals producers continued their negative reaction to the recent introduction of export duties on metals.

The government approved slapping temporary export duties on products of the ferrous and non-ferrous metals industries from August 1 through December 31, and to work out a permanent mechanism to smooth local prices for metals.

Tuzov also said that the Brent crude price reached U.S. $75.79 per barrel.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Gazprom	-0.06	277.3	7.923
Sberbank	+0.6	311.87	6.420
NLMK	-1.49	232	5.967
Lukoil	+1.06	6796.5	5.573
Severstal	-0.73	1570	5.561

(72.3260 rubles – U.S. $1)

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