Russia RTS Stock-Index Futures Unchanged at Week High April 22

Russia’s RTS stock-index futures closed unchanged on April 22, at the highest level in more than a week as Chinese stocks retreated.

Futures on the dollar-denominated index expiring in June were at 201,225 at the close after rising and falling as much as 0.1 percent earlier. Most stocks fell in Asia as Chinese shares slipped on speculation the country’s central bank may let the yuan strengthen. Most markets in Europe and the Americas were closed for Good Friday.

“Investors’ focus seems to have started shifting from Russia towards other emerging markets despite oil hovering at $120 per barrel,” Alexey Zabotkin, Andrey Amelin and Sergey Galkin, analysts at VTB Capital in Moscow, wrote in a report on April 22. “Globally, risk appetite towards equities still remains as emerging markets equity funds keep attracting fresh cash.”

Russia-dedicated equity funds received $79 million from investors in the week ending April 20, compared with $262 million in the previous week, according to EPFR Global data cited by UralSib Financial Corp. Crude advanced 2.4 percent last week to $112.29 a barrel. Oil and natural gas account for a quarter of Russia’s economic output, and the country also exports gold, nickel, copper and palladium, among other metals.

Futures contracts on OAO Rosneft, the country’s biggest oil producer, rose 0.3 percent. The contracts on OAO Lukoil, the nation’s second-largest, fell 0.1 percent. OAO Gazprom, Russia’s natural-gas export monopoly, was little changed.

‘Weaker Dollar’

“Given a weaker dollar and higher commodities prices, stocks are again favored by investors over cash,” Ovanes Oganisian, a strategist at Renaissance Capital, said in an e- mailed report on April 22.

The dollar last week declined against its 16 major counterparts as traders reduced bets the Federal Reserve will increase interest rates this year.

Russian’s benchmark stock index, the Micex Index, rose 0.8 percent to 1,793.96, the highest in more than a week, at the 6:45 p.m. close in Moscow. The measure gained 0.8 percent last week. The dollar-denominated RTS Index climbed 0.4 percent to 2,049.03 on April 22.

Gold for immediate delivery advanced 1.4 percent last week, silver for immediate delivery increased to $47.25 an ounce, the highest price since 1980. The higher prices lifted OAO Polymetal, a Russian gold and silver producer, 2.1 percent on April 22.