Investing.com – Russia equities were higher at the close on Thursday, as gains in the Mining, Oil & Gas and Telecoms sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Moscow, the MOEX Russia Index rose 5.88% to hit a new 6-month high.
The biggest gainers of the session on the MOEX Russia Index were Gazprom PJSC (MCX:GAZP), which rose 7.58% or 11.72 points to trade at 166.32 at the close. AFK Sistema PJSC (MCX:AFKS) added 7.39% or 1.12 points to end at 16.26 and Moskovskaya Birzha PJSC (MCX:MOEX) was up 3.57% or 8.09 points to 234.70 in late trade.
Biggest losers included TATNEFT n.a. V.D. Shashin (MCX:TATN), which lost 3.45% or 25.40 points to trade at 711.60 in late trade. OK Rusal MKPAO (MCX:RUAL) declined 3.30% or 1.24 points to end at 36.20 and Rostelekom PJSC (MCX:RTKM) shed 2.70% or 2.00 points to 72.19.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 149 to 95 and 10 ended unchanged on the Moscow Stock Exchange.
The Russian Volatility Index – RVI, which measures the implied volatility of MOEX Russia Index options, was up 5.07% to 40.19.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for April delivery was up 0.98% or 28.74 to $2,957.44 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in March rose 0.03% or 0.02 to hit $71.39 a barrel, while the April Brent oil contract fell 0.05% or 0.04 to trade at $75.14 a barrel.
USD/RUB was down 4.79% to 89.50, while EUR/RUB fell 4.07% to 93.62.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.77% at 107.00.