A hundred and ninety deals, worth $31.8 million, were closed on the Russian Trading System, the country's primary exchanges. Deals in the shares of Russian oil major LUKoil accounted for about a quarter of the amount, or $8.2 million.
"The low activity was partly due to the high cost of ready assets on the interbank exchange and investors' passivity," said Andrei Rozhkov, an analyst at the Kapital investment group.
Shares stably rose in the first half of the day and the RTS index grew more than 14 points, approaching 1,300 points.
"Growing oil prices and a moderate growth on developing and developed stock markets had a positive effect on players who already anticipated a new record high on the RTS," said Roman Frolov, vice president of the CentrInvest Securities company.
A slowdown followed ending with profit taking. As a result, some stocks closed lower than the previous day.
The RTS closed at 1,020.98 points and the Moscow Interbank Currency Exchange (MICEX) closed at 930.12, growing 0.7% and 0.21%, respectively.
Rising oil prices and oil skyrocketing to a new high on the world market fuelled the demand for the stocks of mining companies. The shares of LUKoil grew 1.34% on the RTS, those of Surgutneftegaz by 3.48%, Tatneft's by 0.3%. Shares in Norilsknikel slid 0.3% and Sibneft's took a 2.17% hit.
The European Commission's assent to energy giant Gazprom's buying a 72.66% stake in Sibneft and expectations of the Russian parliament's consideration of the draft law on the liberalization of the Gazprom stock market bolstered the demand for the company's shares, which grew 1.07% by the end of the day.
Analyst at Promsvyazbank Oleg Shagov highlighted the growth of telecommunication companies' stocks, inspired by sustained demand by domestic and foreign investors, with Rostelecom up 1.34% and MTS climbing 0.74%.
