Russian stocks rise slightly as oil price edges up

MOSCOW, Jun 23 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market grew slightly on Friday on the back of an oil price increase but the rise was limited by an ambivalent external background, analysts said.

The MICEX rose 0.40% to 1,867.46 and the RTS increased 1.07% to 988.93.

“After morning volatility, Russian stock market indices started to rise on the back of oil price stabilization. An ambivalent external background, with sales predominating in the key European indices and the U.S. futures, barred (the Russian market) from a more active growth,” InstaForex analyst Igor Kovalyov said.

“There are no big incentives (for growth) on the market, albeit a decrease of May–June made some securities interesting in the long-term prospect, even with dividend gaps,” Otkritie Broker analyst Andrei Kochetkov said.

Kovalyov said that foreign investors were unwilling to buy before holidays, and Russian market players showed restraint due to information regarding sanctions.

Kochetkov said that oil companies’ shares were rising on the back of an oil price increase and record supplies to China. 

Kovalyov said that Sistema was growing on Friday after offering an out-of-court settlement to Rosneft.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	-0.1	144.1	6.127
Norilsk Nickel	+2.1	8015	3.024
Gazprom	-0.38	119.1	2.778
Lukoil	+0.53	2775	1.743
ALROSA	+1.52	84.36	1.202

(60.1482 rubles – U.S. $1)