Stocks close higher on market hopes for Russia-West talks

MOSCOW, Feb 1 (PRIME) -- The stock market increased on Tuesday on optimistic expectations about negotiations between top Russian and foreign officials, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index rose by 0.50% to 3,548.17 and the RTS increased 1.56% to 1,457.64.

“While officials in Europe and the U.S. are practicing in drafting more sanctions against Russia, the Russian investors decided to focus on the prospects of negotiations,” Andrei Kochetkov, leading analyst for global analysis at Otkritie Research, said.

“The day before the presidents of Russia and France agreed to work on the issue of a meeting in person. Negotiations between the heads of the foreign affairs authorities of Russia and the U.S. are also expected. Analyzing sanctions ‘from hell’ against Russia is pointless, as many measures are beyond normalcy.”

Dmitry Babin, stock market expert at BCS World of Investment, said that the foreign markets continued their upward correction after a January fall even though the factors that caused it are still present.

“Ruble assets looked rather strong thanks to easing of the information pressure from the tough geopolitical situation. Even a simple lack of news on escalation of the dispute between Russia and the West strengthens hope that the worst case scenarios are unlikely,” Babin said.

Investment company Freedom Finance said in a research note that gold producer Polymetal International grew by 0.61% to 1,115.50 rubles in reaction to a global gold price rise of 0.5%.

Lukoil gained 1.04% to 6,949.50 rubles on the news about the company’s share buyback program and proposal of the Finance Ministry to reduce the tax on production of highly-viscous oil in the Komi Republic, Freedom Finance said.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	-2.53	262.60	40.477
Gazprom	-1.49	329.80	18.475
Yandex	+0.26	3727.40	11.066
Lukoil	+1.04	6949.50	7.765
Norilsk Nickel	-0.41	21826.00	4.773

(77.4702 rubles – U.S. $1)

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