The Russian stock market up sharply after a month of suspension

RUSSIAN STOCK MARKET UP SHARP AFTER A MONTH OF SUSPENSION (Reuters) – Closed for nearly a month, the Russian stock market rose sharply on Thursday, benefiting from strength in the energy and metals sectors linked to soaring prices oil, gas and other raw materials. The market was also buoyed by the state’s commitment to support equities, which led a senior US official to call the partial resumption of trading a “masquerade: a Potemkin market opening”. The Russian government had said on March 1 that it was ready to use up to 1 trillion rubles ($10.4 billion) from the National Wealth Fund to buy up troubled Russian stocks, but there was no evidence that the move was implemented this Thursday. The Moscow Stock Exchange was closed on February 25, the day after President Vladimir Putin sent troops to Ukraine, triggering several rounds of Western sanctions aimed at economically isolating Russia. Thursday’s short session saw companies in the energy sector post bumper gains, in particular gas producer Novatek, oil groups Rosneft and Lukoil and gas giant Gazprom, up 12% to 18.5%. . On the other hand, the negative impact of the sanctions is very clear on other sectors. The title of the second Russian bank VTB fell by 5.5%. Very affected by the closure of most connections with European countries, the action of the national airline Aeroflot plunged 16.44%. The ruble continued its recovery, regaining 1.3% to trade at 96.50 against the dollar in Moscow trading around 1502 GMT. (Reuters offices; French version Federica Mileo, editing by Jean-Michel Bélot)