The Russian market remains cautiously optimistic

Russian indices start the trading of the new week with a slight increase. The external background remains positive. U.S. indices are at the highs, and oil holds above $76. At the same time the factor restraining purchases is a surge of new cases of COVID-19 infection in Russia.

Brent is losing a modest 0.1% today, sitting at $76.1. Crude oil is near 5490, which is near the highs since October 2018. While OPEC+ continues to cut production by more than 6 million bpd, fuel consumption is actively recovering.

In recent days, we have seen a new round of price increases for metals: nickel, aluminum and palladium.

USD/RUB trades at 72.13 (-0.1%). The RGBI government bond index is up 0.06%.

In the banking sector securities are still in high demand (+1.8%), while Sberbank loses 0.2% today. Gazprom and LUKOIL add about 0.2%, declining by 0.5%. Dividends cleared the securities of Rosseti Lenenergo.

Leaders: TCS (+1.8%), Beluga (+1.5%), TGC-1 (+1.5%), Raspadskaya (+1.5%)

Outsiders: Rosseti Lenenergo-ap (-10%), Rosseti Lenenergo-ao (-5%), Lenzoloto-ap (-1.3%), (-0.6%)