Russia stocks higher at close of trade; MOEX Russia Index up 2.30%

Investing.com – Russia stocks were higher after the close on Thursday, as gains in the Telecoms, Mining and Oil & Gas sectors led shares higher.

At the close in Moscow, the MOEX Russia Index gained 2.30%.

The best performers of the session on the MOEX Russia Index were GDR ROS AGRO PLC ORD SHS (MCX:AGRODR), which rose 7.64% or 85.40 points to trade at 1,203.00 at the close. Meanwhile, Magnitogorskiy Metallurgicheskiy Kombinat PAO (MCX:MAGN) added 3.79% or 1.23 points to end at 33.58 and Moskovskiy Kreditnyi Bank PAO (MCX:CBOM) was up 3.56% or 0.26 points to 7.56 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Aeroflot PJSC (MCX:AFLT), which fell 3.36% or 1.91 points to trade at 54.88 at the close. Moskovskaya Birzha PJSC (MCX:MOEX) declined 1.90% or 3.57 points to end at 183.88 and OK Rusal MKPAO (MCX:RUAL) was down 1.59% or 0.56 points to 34.65.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Moscow Stock Exchange by 185 to 60 and 10 ended unchanged.

Shares in Moskovskaya Birzha PJSC (MCX:MOEX) fell to 52-week lows; falling 1.90% or 3.57 to 183.88.

The Russian Volatility Index – RVI, which measures the implied volatility of MOEX Russia Index options, was up 1.82% to 61.03.

Gold Futures for February delivery was down 0.11% or 3.00 to $2,661.80 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in January rose 0.23% or 0.16 to hit $68.88 a barrel, while the February Brent oil contract rose 0.53% or 0.38 to trade at $72.68 a barrel.

USD/RUB was down 4.55% to 108.00, while EUR/RUB fell 4.65% to 114.00.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.08% at 106.13.