17 June 2004 02:43
Russian stocks start to recover
MOSCOW. June 17 (Interfax) - Russian stocks began to recover previous losses on Thursday thanks to cautious foreign
demand after the Menatep Group, a major Yukos shareholder, announced it was ready to provide the government with a
guarantee for the oil major's tax debt payments.
As of 2:00 p.m., Moscow time, on the RTS, Yukos was up 3.9% to $6.4. Other blue chips were up 2.7% to 4.7% in average
trading.
After Menatep agreed to offer assets in proportion to its share in Yukos to clear Tax Ministry claims, investors
began to hope that Yukos might not suffer bankruptcy, traders said.
simply come for an upward correction throughout the market and the
Menatep news helped to achieve this," he said. "The market is still
The number of traders wanting to close short positions increased and this pushed quotes up for most shares.
It is still too early to discard the risks linked with the Yukos affair as Menatep's proposal might well not be
considered. It is also quite likely that the market will enter a sideways trend after a local correction.
Menatep's decision looks logical because few want to see bankruptcy at Yukos, said Yevgeny Volkov of MDM Bank.
"The question is whether Menatep will have the chance to settle Yukos debts. I think the time has
working on foreign bids made Wednesday evening and trading volumes are gradually rising - the market may be able to
climb to 550 points on the RTS index," he said.
"UES shares topped the resistance level of 8 rubles a share and there is demand for Gazprom and
Surgutneftegas," Antanta Capital trader Alexander Pankov said. "The market has the potential to climb, but
there is a hearing for the Tax Ministry case against Yukos on Friday so the market will be nervy," he added.
On the RTS, prices were up 3.8% for Unified Energy System, 4.7% for Norilsk Nickel, 2.2% for Lukoil, 2% for
Mosenergo, 3.2% for Rostelecom, 2.7% for Sberbank, 4.1% for Surgutneftegas, and 4.5% for Tatneft.
The RTS index climbed 1.94% to 543.59 points.
The MICEX composite went up 0.75% to 512.33.
Trading volume was at $12.832 million on the RTS (including $5.64 million in direct deals), and over 8 billion rubles
on the MICEX.
Gazprom shares on the St. Petersburg were up 0.6% at 56.05 rubles in volume of over 9.64 million shares.
The S&P/RUX composite ruble index rose 2.05% to 685.89, and the index in dollars also added 2.05% to 140.87.
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