Russian shares to rise for rest of 2017

Russian shares are forecast to rise around 11 percent by the end of the year as investors turn more bullish around economic recovery and a modest increase in oil prices, a Reuters poll showed on Wednesday. The RTS share index enjoyed a bumper 2016, rising 52 percent as the rouble rallied and prospects for an easing of Western sanctions grew with the US election win of Donald Trump in November.
Although the RTS is down 2 percent this year as the chances of an imminent easing of sanctions have faded, analysts still see grounds for optimism. "Market participants are increasingly seeing an easing of anti-Russian sanctions as a potential pleasant surprise, not as their main scenario," said Vladimir Miklashevsky, a trading desk strategist at Danske Bank.