OREANDA-NEWS. On Tuesday, October 9, Russian equities continued in rally mode, sustaining the upward shift on the back of cheap money. All in all, the market’s performance mirrored developments on European bourses, and by the final bell only three blue chips had failed to deliver upside: UES, Rostelecom, and Surgutneftegaz, reads a commentary posted by Antanta Capital investment bank.

The RTS Index edged up 0.54% to 2,141.79, within spitting distance of a new record high, amid renewed determination to drive indexes up to their all-time maximum. Trading volumes on the benchmark were a shade higher than in previous sessions.

According to Antanta Capital's experts, "whereas heftier demand for Sberbank (+1.81%) and VTB (+1.935%) can be attributed to similar trends in Europe’s banking sector and expectations that German Gref will be appointed Sber’s new chief, the gains posted by Lukoil (0.47%) and Gazprom (0.66%) remain rather a mystery in light of crude oil’s downswing in the past few days. No less enigmatic was yesterday’s winning performance by Norilsk Nickel, which spiked 2.54% as investors shrugged off a 4% slide in the price of nickel on Monday."

Nearly all blue chips closed out the day in positive territory. The casualty list included UES, which dipped 0.34% in the wake of WGC-2’s lackluster IPO, and Transneft, whose preferred stock retreated 1.22% on a bout of profit taking amid dwindling interest in the appointment of the pipeline monopoly’s new CEO.

Meanwhile, analysts are split on the question of Russian equity performances moving forward. Some think that the market still holds upside potential, while others caution against buying at current prices, advising investors to wait for a correction to set in.

In the experts' opinion, the current upward shift is largely thanks to mutual fund managers, who have recently gained a large new intake of private clients impressed by the market’s new record highs and eager to get a piece of the action. At the same time, speculative-minded players, tapping into the bullish sentiment on Western market, are using the present situation to drive prices higher. In the West, however, hi-tech issuers currently look heavily overbought even based on weekly graphs – and this hardly bodes well for sustained upward momentum.

Analyst at Antanta Capital, Alexander Potavin, supposes that "investors should shorten their positions on local upside and avoid being drawn into any bullish gambits. It pays to recall that few players succeed in selling their stock at maximum price and that cashing out is all part of the daily business. For the record, a downswing is always fast, and inevitably a painful experience."