MOSCOW: Russia stocks were higher after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Power, Manufacturing and Mining sectors led shares higher. At the close in Moscow, the MICEX gained 0.86% to hit a new 1-month high.
The best performers of the session on the MICEX were MosEnrg (MCX:MSNG), which rose 4.88% or 0.1175 points to trade at 2.5250 at the close. Meanwhile, Sberbank Rossii OAO Pref (MCX:SBER_p) added 3.87% or 4.99 points to end at 133.99 and Aeroflot (MCX:AFLT) was up 3.59% or 7.80 points to 225.00 in late trade. The worst performers of the session were AFK Sistema (MCX:AFKS), which fell 3.71% or 0.465 points to trade at 12.055 at the close. Surgut-pref (MCX:SNGS_p) declined 1.30% or 0.385 points to end at 29.200 and RusHydro JSC (MCX:HYDR) was down 1.16% or 0.0094 points to 0.8020. Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Moscow Stock Exchange by 127 to 82 and 20 ended unchanged. Shares in Aeroflot (MCX:AFLT) rose to all time highs; rising 3.59% or 7.80 to 225.00.
The Russian VIX, which measures the implied volatility of MICEX options, was down 2.60% to 21.760. Gold Futures for August delivery was up 0.47% or 5.72 to $1220.42 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in August rose 1.44% or 0.65 to hit $45.69 a barrel, while the September Brent oil contract rose 0.97% or 0.46 to trade at $47.98 a barrel. USD/RUB was down 1.13% to 60.0363, while EUR/RUB fell 1.07% to 68.6520. The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.04% at 95.53.
