MOSCOW: Russian shares rose on Monday, outperforming emerging market peers on relief that large protests passed peacefully at the weekend, through analysts said the easing of tensions over alleged fraud in parliamentary elections could be temporary.
Markets had fallen sharply on Friday on the political unrest as well as uncertainty over moves by euro zone policymakers, leaving the dollar-based RTS share index down 8.6 percent over the week.
By 0749 GMT on Monday, the RTS was up 1.21 percent and the rouble-traded MICEX had risen 1.55 percent, outperforming the broader emerging market index which was up 0.25 percent.
"There is a sense of relief that the protests, which drew massive participation, went on in a peaceful way," said Alex Kantarovich, head of research at JP Morgan in Moscow. "The worst-case scenario did not happen.
"After the Saturday rallies, the nervousness should ease," Denis Barabanov, chief analyst at Grandis Capital said in a note.
"The absence of any incidents and a peaceful character of the protest as a whole confirms our belief that we cannot speak of an 'Arab Spring' in Russia."
President Dmitry Medvedev has ordered an investigation into allegations of fraud in the Dec. 4 vote.
The rouble was flat against the dollar at 31.44 after giving up modest opening gains. Versus the euro, the rouble lost 0.3 percent, sliding to 41.88 and it fell 0.2 percent against its currency basket , comprised of 0.55 dollars and 0.45 euros.
Markets were also digesting the outcome of a European Union summit ahead of the weekend at which leaders promised to deepen integration to protect the euro.
Russia's Deputy Economy Minister Andrei Klepach said it was hard to say that ups and downs on the stock markets were caused either by the elections and the following protests, or euro zone jitters.
"The expectations of many investors in the Russian economy are rather positive," Klepach said in a briefing with journalists. "There is good potential for development, our question should be, how can the new government capitalise on it."
The price of the Urals oil blend, Russia's main exporting blend, stood at $108.85 per barrel, slightly below the newly revised average of $109 assumed for the 2011 budget.
Some dealers expect the rouble to appreciate during the day, supported by calmer political mood, and the approaching tax-payment period, when exporters begin converting dollars to meet local obligations at the end of the month.
"The internal and the external situation has improved - and the tax period is approaching," said Iskander Akbergenov of Nordea Bank. He expects the currency basket to trade around 36.00 roubles.
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