Russian stocks finished higher at Wednesday's close, with strength concentrated in the Mining, Oil & Gas and Power sectors. At the Moscow close the MOEX Russia Index advanced 0.18% to record a new three-month high.
Top movers
The session's biggest gainer was Magnitogorskiy Metallurgicheskiy Kombinat PAO (MCX:MAGN), which climbed 3.04% - equal to a 0.88-point rise - to finish at 29.63. Surgutneftegas PJSC Pref (MCX:SNGS_p) added 1.96%, or 0.86 points, closing at 44.66. AFK Sistema PJSC (MCX:AFKS) also posted gains, up 1.42% or 0.19 points to end the day at 13.43.
Lagging issues
On the downside, Aeroflot PJSC (MCX:AFLT) declined 1.26% - a 0.74-point loss - to trade at 57.93 at the close. LUKOIL PJSC (MCX:LKOH) fell 1.14%, a drop of 60.50 points, finishing at 5,223.50. Mobil'nye Telesistemy PJSC (MCX:MTSS) slipped 1.05%, down 2.40 points to 226.85.
Market breadth and volatility
Despite the index's uptick, the Moscow Stock Exchange saw more stocks fall than rise: 149 declined versus 94 that advanced, while 10 shares finished unchanged. The Russian Volatility Index - RVI, which tracks implied volatility on MOEX Russia Index options, moved lower by 0.23% to 25.67.
Commodities and currency moves
Commodities trading showed notable moves. Gold Futures for April delivery were reported up 5.85%, or 299.49, to $5,420.09 a troy ounce. In energy markets, crude oil for March delivery rose 1.76% or 1.10 to $63.49 a barrel, while the April Brent contract increased 1.50% or 1.00 to trade at $67.59 a barrel.
On the currency front, USD/RUB moved up 0.40% to 76.55, while EUR/RUB eased 0.37% to 91.45. The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.14% at 96.19.
Overall, the session closed with the benchmark at a short-term high and commodity and currency moves that will be relevant to resource and energy-related names. The composition of advancing and declining stocks suggests the uptick in the index was concentrated among specific sectors rather than broad-based across the market.