Russia Stocks Give Hopes for Recovery

Russian stocks surged in morning trading Friday, recovering some of the recent days' massive losses as investors cheered the rally in U.S. markets and oil prices.

The MICEX index jumped 7.3 percent to 642.3 points by 11:00 a.m. (0700 GMT). The RTS was up 9 percent to 676 points.

Shares in steelmaker Novolipetsk Steel added 22.5 percent at the MICEX. Russia's largest miner Norilsk Nickel rose 12.2 percent, while state-controlled gas giant Gazprom was up 10.1 percent.

Russia's markets are some of the worst performing this year, with the RTS losing 73 percent and the MICEX down 69 percent since the beginning of the year.

The exchanges suffered another chaotic day on Thursday as regulators opened and closed both exchanges when some Russian blue chips plummeted 20 percent.

The country's resource-dependent economy has been battered by weaker oil prices, and its equity markets have declined in lockstep with crude.

Oil prices have fallen about 60 percent during the last four months from a high of $147.27 in July. They were as weak as $54.67 Thursday before rallying to close overnight at $58.24.

Author: Jo Amey