BLBG: Russia’s Micex Index Jumps Most in Two Weeks as Oil Rebounds
Russia’s Micex Index rose the most in two weeks as oil rebounded from yesterday’s drop of more than $5 a barrel.
The 30-stock gauge gained 1.6 percent to 1,633.99 at the 6:45 p.m. close in Moscow, the biggest advance since June 9 and paring its second consecutive weekly loss to 0.7 percent. OAO Gazprom, the gas export monopoly, climbed 1.6 percent while OAO Sberbank, Russia’s largest lender, rose 3 percent. The dollar- denominated RTS Index climbed 1.5 percent to 1,857.04.
Oil prices sank yesterday after the International Energy Agency announced it would release some of its emergency stockpiles for the third time since it was founded in 1974. Crude, Russia’s main export earner, rose as much as 1.5 percent today to $92.34 a barrel on expectations producers including Saudi Arabia may reduce output in response to the IEA’s decision.
“People realize that an inventory release is only a temporary measure and may even signal that supply disruptions may last longer and demand stays robust,” Peter Szopo, head of research at Alfa Bank in Moscow, wrote in response to e-mailed questions.
OAO Rosneft, Russia’s largest oil company, gained 1 percent, snapping its longest losing streak since April 14. OAO Lukoil, OAO Tatneft (TATN) and OAO Surgutneftegas also rose, climbing 1.6 percent, 3.1 percent and 2 percent respectively.
“The sharp decline in oil prices appears to have ceased,” Kirill Bakhtin, a Moscow-based analyst at TKB Capital, wrote in an e-mailed report. “Analysts are yet to estimate long-term effects of yesterday’s decision by the IEA.”
Global Ports Investments Plc, which handles more than a quarter of fuel exports from Russia, raised $534 million in an initial public offering of global depositary receipts in London, it said in a statement today. The receipts rose 8 percent to $16.20 on their first day of trading.
-- Editors: Alex Nicholson, Linda Shen
To contact the reporter on this story: Jack Jordan in Moscow at jjordan22@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Gavin Serkin at gserkin@bloomberg.net
