The Moscow Exchange index rose above 2700 points

The Moscow Exchange Index rose above 2,700 points for the first time since April 2022. Growth comes against the backdrop of positive corporate actions by individual companies, supported by incoming dividends from a number of large issuers.

The Russian market began the new week with a steady growth of stock indicators. Already at the opening of trading, the ruble index of the Moscow Exchange after a fourteen-month break rose above the level of 2700 points. As a result of trading, he reached the mark of 2732 points, having added almost 2% per day. The RTS dollar index closed at 1,064.18 points, up 0.8% from the end of last week. Trading volumes exceeded 84 billion rubles, which is 10% higher than on Friday.

The key reason for the growth remains the dividends announced by many large issuers that have begun to enter the market.

Analyst FG “Finam” Sergey Kaufman draws attention to the fact that in recent days, investors have begun to receive payments from Sberbank and reinvest them. In total, the bank allocated 565 billion rubles, or 25 rubles, for the payment of dividends. per ordinary or preferred share. Although the main part of the funds will go to the state as the main shareholder, and a significant part will settle on type C accounts owned by non-residents, tens of billions of rubles will still enter the market.

Dividends on other securities entering the market were logically distributed into the most attractive stocks, Andrey Kochetkov, a leading analyst at Otkritie Investments, notes. He lists Monday’s growth leaders as second-tier stocks Samolet and Sovcomflot, which gained 9.1% and 12.4% respectively, among them. The volume of trading in these shares amounted to 5.25 billion and 2.7 billion rubles. respectively, and according to this indicator they took the seventh and third places among liquid securities. “Investors are positive about Sovcomflot on the back of published financial statements for the first quarter of 2023 and potential dividends for the period,” says Tsifra Broker analyst Daniil Bolotskikh. The rise in Samolet’s shares was facilitated by news about the company’s plans to allocate 10 billion rubles. to repurchase shares.

However, the securities of these companies are not included in the calculation of the MOEX index, and therefore did not affect it. The main contribution was made by the shares of the oil company LUKOIL, which rose in price by 4.4%, but which occupy 16.44% in the index.

Ordinary shares of Sberbank, which account for 15.3% of the index, added only 1.66% on Monday. “After a series of reports and dividend decisions, LUKOIL shares have confirmed their status as one of the most reliable dividend ideas in the oil and gas sector,” Andrey Kochetkov notes.

Under the current conditions, analysts expect continued growth. “In the absence of unexpected negative geopolitical and corporate news on the largest issuers, this upward trend is highly likely to continue in the coming months,” Anna Mikhailova, analyst at Ingosstrakh Investments, notes.

Demand for the papers of domestic issuers is also supported by the weakness of the ruble, which, against the backdrop of falling exports and growing imports, will continue its systematic decline. As a result, Dmitry Babin, an expert on the stock market at BCS World of Investments, believes that private investors have a growing desire to protect long-term ruble savings from inflation, which, against the backdrop of geopolitical and sanctions risks, makes such investments almost uncontested, given the threat of restrictions on transactions with unfriendly currencies. If companies can ensure continued growth in results and decide to pay interim dividends, Daniil Bolotskikh notes, then growth to 3,000 points will be fundamentally justified. At the same time, on May 29, many large issuers, on the contrary, announced their refusal to pay dividends.

Vitaly Gaidaev