Investing.com – Russia equities were higher at the close on Thursday, as gains in the MOEX Telecommunication, MOEX Oil and Gas and MOEX Metals and Mining sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Moscow, the MOEX Russia Index rose 0.48%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the MOEX Russia Index were NOVATEK PJSC (MCX:NVTK), which rose 3.82% or 40.00 points to trade at 1,086.00 at the close. ADS Ozon Holdings PLC ORD SHS (MCX:OZONDR) added 3.67% or 128.00 points to end at 3,620.00 and Aeroflot PJSC (MCX:AFLT) was up 3.49% or 2.17 points to 64.36 in late trade.
Biggest losers included OK Rusal MKPAO (MCX:RUAL), which fell 1.29% or 0.47 points to trade at 35.62 in late trade. Moskovskiy Kreditnyi Bank PAO (MCX:CBOM) declined 1.06% or 0.10 points to end at 9.12 and PIK SHb PJSC (MCX:PIKK) down 0.82% or 5.80 points to 699.50.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones by 170 to 65 and 19 ended unchanged on the Moscow Stock Exchange.
Shares in Aeroflot PJSC (MCX:AFLT) rose to 3-year highs; rising 3.49% or 2.17 to 64.36.
The Russian Volatility Index – RVI, which measures the implied volatility of MOEX Russia Index options, was down 2.97% to 33.32 a new 3-month low.
Gold Futures for April delivery was up 2.01% or 56.02 to $2,849.52 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in March rose 0.50% or 0.36 to hit $72.98 a barrel, while the April Brent oil contract rose 0.56% or 0.42 to trade at $76.03 a barrel.
USD/RUB was down 0.76% to 98.50, while EUR/RUB fell 0.86% to 102.53.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.13% at 107.95.