MOSCOW, Aug 14 (Reuters) - Leading Russian shares squeezed
higher on thin volumes in early trade on Friday, recovering some
ground after being routed by fears of a rouble devaluation and
talk of a banking crisis the previous day.
Flagship utility United Energy Systems <EESR.RTS>, an
electricity grid, edged 1.2 percent higher to $0.0825 while oil
major LUKOil <LKOH.RTS> jumped 13 percent to $5.35. Dealers said
the gains were made on extremely quiet trade.
"The market has opened with a small gain, a natural reaction
to yesterday's panic, which has subsided slightly," said Alfa
Bank trader Alexander Orekhov.
"The market will be volatile today, which underlines just
how nervous everyone on the market is," he added.
Other leading shares also gained slightly, with Rostelekom
<RTKM.RTS> up 3.17 percent to $1.30 and Mosenergo <MSNG.RTS>
adding 8.9 percent to $0.043.
The share market has been bit like other Russian markets by
worries that Prime Minister Sergei Kiriyenko's efforts to save
Russia from financial collapse will fail and that the country
will not be able to pay off its mountain of debts, leading to a
debt default and rouble devaluation.
((Moscow Newsroom, +7095 941-8520
moscow.newsroom@reuters.com))
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