Russian stocks rise thanks to positive background, strong oil prices

MOSCOW, May 26 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market continued to grow on Wednesday thanks to a positive external environment including fading global investors’ wariness and inflating crude, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index grew 0.66% to 3,711.05 and the RTS increased 0.63% to 1,590.58.

“The MOEX Russia and the RTS indices continued gradual growth and hit a new record high of 3,717 and the highest level since January 2020 of 1,592, respectively. The restrained upward dynamics prevent the benchmarks from overbought zones, providing them with a space for further growth,” Veles Broker analyst Yelena Kozhukhova said.

She added that the global sentiment was calm, and Russian stocks stay attractive thanks to hopes for geopolitical stabilization and to high crude prices.

Otkritie Broker analyst Andrei Kochetkov said that the global wariness about inflation risks and possible tightening of monetary policies by the leading regulators has faded, and the Russian market is trading in line with the trend.

Kozhukhova also said that Russia’s second largest lender VTB Bank was among the top gainers adding 3.96% on the news that its net profit more than doubled on the year to 114.6 billion rubles in January–April.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	-0.18	306.25	10.236
Gazprom	+0.79	261.85	8.098
VTB Bank	+3.96	0.047155	7.458
Lukoil	+1.64	6010	6.799
Norilsk Nickel	+0.71	26920	5.727

(73.3963 rubles – U.S. $1)

End