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Russian Banks on the Rise
Stocks in the banking sector were the growth leaders on the Russian market yesterday. VTB shares rose 6 percent, to 8.3 kopecks, on MICEX, which is a showing that has not been seen since the end of March. The volume of trading was 4.45 billion rubles, two and a half times higher than the average for the last month. Sberbank common shares rose 6.28 percent to 77.35 rubles, and preferred stock rose 4.55 percent to 44.38 rubles. Its trading on MICEX reached 14.8 billion rubles, the highest in three months and 2.4 billion rubles over the volume of trading in Gazprom stock. That was its best performance in half a year. The MICEX index rose 2.95 percent yesterday and the RTS 2.21 percent.
VTB shares are being traded 36.5 percent below the level of their IPO last year, and Sberbank remains 13 percent below its initial level. VTB stock has lost 31.37 percent of its value since the beginning of the year, and Sberbank 24.16 percent in the wake of the financial crisis. Investors have little banking stock in their portfolios, so when the market is on the rise, investors are happy to buy them.
Experts say the main reason for the waking in the Russian banking sector is a rise in financial stocks in the United States. The American S&P Banking Index rose 22.77 percent the day before, and stock in the mortgage agencies Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae rose 29.85 percent and 30.83 percent, respectively. That turnaround came thanks to falling oil prices and the efforts of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to stabilize the financial market.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of July 18, 2008
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