FINAM - Daily Market Watch - Oct 12, 2009

Market Roundup Domestic equity benchmarks staged a show of strength again on Friday, setting more YTD highs on rising oil prices and robust performances on Western stock markets, with the RTS Index advancing 2.78% and the MICEX Index adding 2.32%. Rallying crude prices acted as the key upside driver for O&G names, with Gazprom gaining 1.6%, Rosneft surging 4.5% and Lukoil soaring 6.2%. Banking names also saw robust demand, as Sberbank advanced 3.2% and Bank VTB shot up 6%. Unexpectedly, steel issuers underperformed, with MMK slipping 2.2%, NLMK shedding 2.3% and Severstal edging down 0.1%. US trading floors closed the week in positive territory, as the Dow added 0.8%.