Russian stocks surge on high oil prices, fading political risks

MOSCOW, Apr 24 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market increased on Tuesday as oil prices remained close to a local record high and political risks somewhat eased, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index grew 0.12% to 2,253.77 and the RTS rose 0.80% to 1,153.83.

“The G7 confirmed its pursuit of mounting on Russia. Naturally, the British foreign secretary was at the forefront with threats to look for Russia’s malign behavior. Although some easing of risks affected the blue chips positively,” Andrei Kochetkov, an analyst at Otkritie Broker, said.

According to Vitaly Manzhos, a senior risk manager at investment company Nord Capital, the Brent oil traded close to a long-term maximum, a positive factor for the Russian oil-drive economy.

Kochetkov said that shares of state companies grew after Deputy Finance Minister Alexei Moiseyev said that the ministry will insist on payment of 50% of the net profit under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in dividends.

RUSAL surged 4.07% on the news that sanctions against the company can be eased, Kochetkov said.

Manzhos said that the RUSAL sanctions showed that even targeted sanctions can hurt their initiators because even if Russian products are not crucial for Western economies, any restrictions can cause a sensitive price rise for them.

He said that retailers fell as usual, when oil prices are high.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	-0.11	223	18.906
Gazprom	+0.10	144.14	4.247
Rosneft	+0.36	352.25	3.218
Lukoil	+0.64	3999.5	2.944
Sberbank pref	+0.41	197.51	2.075

(61.7655 rubles – U.S. $1)

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