18 June 2004 06:42
RTS index tops 600 points
MOSCOW. June 18 (Interfax) - Most blue chip shares climbed on Friday and pushed the benchmark RTS stock index up
2.34% to 600.86 points.
Yukos shares went down 1% to 252.47 rubles on the MICEX. On the
RTS, Yukos was up 16% from Thursday at 5:10 p.m., Moscow time, when
Shares climbed 1.5% to 5.9%, with the exception of Unified Energy System, Sberbank and Yukos, which fell 2%, 1.3% and
2.8%, respectively. Speculators took profits on these shares after prices soared Thursday in reaction to President
Vladimir Putin's statement that the government did not want Yukos to go bankrupt.
trading with the shares was stopped, but it dropped from the opening price to $8.6.
It is not the time to get over excited about Yukos shares: it could
be that judges will take tough measures against the company and not
The market is correcting up after tumbling over the past two months and gains could continue over the next few days,
analysts say.
The market is intent on making the most of Thursday's boost, but there is no serious selling just yet, said
Alexei Khmelenko of Uniastrum bank. "The fact that, after surging over 30%, Yukos shares corrected down just 3%-4%
inspires optimism and there is hope that the growth will continue," he said.
Several important issues remain in the resolution of the Yukos
situation, said Andrei Rozhkov of Kapital investment group. "For
Analysts say investors should be cautious about buying Yukos shares because it is almost impossible to calculate the
risks in these instruments.
react to the president's words - in which case the market will go down again, Sergei Suverov of Zenit bank
said.
"Whether the shares have reached rock bottom or not is not currently determined by technical factors, but the
situation with protecting shareholders rights, including minority shareholders, in a company where many investors put in
serious money, including U.S. pension funds," he said.
example: will the main shareholders agree to sell their shares, what will the sale mechanism be, will the government
agree to the scheme, what is the scenario for judicial authorities, will there be tax claims against Yukos for
2001-2003: These issues will probably be resolved in the next few weeks," he said. "In such an uncertain
situation, the best strategy on the market will be short-term buying of Yukos shares, with temporary investment for one
to one and a half weeks," Rozhkov said.
We cannot yet say that Yukos has avoided bankruptcy, Pavel Suprunov of Rosbank says. "The authorities have only
made a first step and it is not clear what situation will follow, considering that Putin's statement came after
more than six months since Mikhail Khodorkovsky was arrested," he said.
Trading volume totaled $43.399 million on the RTS (including
$26.438 million in direct deals), and 18.756 billion rubles on the
The visit to Russia by Fitch analysts has started rumors that Russia's sovereign rating will soon be raised to
investment grade and such an upgrade is expected from S&P before the end of the year, Aton analyst Anatoly Kaplin
said.
Tension on the interbank loan market will continue contain further growth for stocks, Khmelenko said.
On the RTS, prices went up 3.9% for Norilsk Nickel, 2% for Lukoil and Mosenergo, 3.4% for Rostelecom, 1.5% for
Surgutneftegas, 5.6% for Sibneft, and 5.9% for Tatneft.
MICEX.
Gazprom shares on the St. Petersburg went up 3.1% to 60.0528 rubles in volume of over 53.047 million shares.
The S&P/RUX composite ruble index rose 2.87% to 754.48, and the index in dollars added 2.83% to 154.90.
The MICEX composite went up 0.38% to 558.09. [RU ASIA EUROPE EEU EMRG STX MET ENR ELG TEL E BNK INSI] me
[Interfax] |
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