Russian stocks rise supported by favorable background

MOSCOW, Dec 27 (PRIME) -- The Russian stocks grew on Friday in line with the foreign bourses, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index rose 0.62% to 3,050.47 and the RTS increased 0.95% to 1,549.40.

“The Russian market transformed an unclear start of the day into a rally to new all-time highs against a background that lacked any noticeable news. Nevertheless, Russian investors had no option other than growth as the markets in the U.S., Asia, and Europe grew,” Otkritie Broker’s senior analyst Andrei Kochetkov said.

Alen Sabitov, analyst at investment company Freedom Finance, said that the U.S. stock indices grew on the back of Amazon’s record sales during the holiday season, and a report by MasterCard about an increase in consumer spending from November 1 through December 24.

Kochetkov also said that shares of Russian gas giant Gazprom grew 1.18% to 257.11 rubles on hopes that the company would finish the Nord Stream-2 pipeline in the several coming months and that transit of gas to the E.U. through Ukraine will carry on without problems.

Shares of oil company Tatneft fell 2.41% to 770 rubles due to a dividend cut-off, Kochetkov added.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	+1.54	252.06	8.018
Gazprom	+1.18	257.11	6.209
Lukoil	+1.07	6150.00	2.820
Tatneft	-2.41	770.00	2.460
Norilsk Nickel	+0.37	19292.00	2.143

(61.7676 rubles – U.S. $1)

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