MOSCOW: The Russian stock market and rouble rose in Sunday trading the first trading day since Wednesday as sentiment improved partly because Saturday's anti-government demonstrations were smaller than in recent weeks.
At 0840 GMT, the rouble-denominated MICEX index of Russian stocks had risen by 1.6 percent to 1597.6 points, while the dollar-denominated RTS rose by 2.0 percent to 1711.1 points.
Gains on Sunday not normally a market trading day in Russia -- largely match those seen internationally on Thursday and Friday, when Russian markets were closed for a public holiday.
The MSCI emerging markets index rose by 1.9 percent during this period, when global equity markets received a boost after a deal to restructure Greece's debts was accepted by its private creditors. Last week's bond swap deal between Greece and investors also helped support the oil price, the key driver of Russian asset prices.
Brent futures rose during the latter half of last week, settling close to $126 per barrel on Friday, also helped by positive US jobs data.
A secondary factor supporting Russian markets on Sunday was the small size of anti-government protests held on Saturday, suggesting the wave of public demonstrations is losing momentum.
The latest protests follow the presidential election on March 4, won by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin with 64 percent of the vote. International monitoring groups have questioned the fairness of the vote.
Analysts at Russian brokerage Sovlink wrote on Sunday the internal political situation in Russia is contributing to a notable reduction in risk", noting that "although discussions about the legitimacy of the elections continue, such a high result [for Putin] makes it highly unlikely that the opposition will successfully contest the outcome."
The revival of international risk sentiment and strengthening oil price also supported the rouble, which rose by 0.47 percent against the dollar to 29.55 on Sunday, and by 0.38 percent to 38.84 against the euro. Against its euro-dollar currency basket, the rouble rose 0.43 percent to 33.73.
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