QROPS ADVICE: Investment News: RUSSIAN STOCKS IN FOCUS

The Organisation of Russian stocks, the world's best performing in 2009, may gain another 50% next year as commodity prices rise, fuelling a recovery from the country's worst financial crisis in a decade, Otkritie Financial Co. said. The dollar-measured RTS Index of 50 stocks, which has risen 125% this year to about 1,420, will probably reach 2,100 by the end of 2010, Vladimir Savov, head of research at Moscow-based Otkritie, said in a report. "Russia's domestic recovery has not been fully priced in yet, as evidence for it has been sparse," Savov said. This year's gains are due more to "external drivers" such as the growth in global money supply and higher commodity prices than gains in the domestic economy, he said. Russia is emerging from its first economic contraction in more than a decade after the price of Urals crude, its main export earner, more than doubled in a year. Standard & Poor's raised the country's outlook to stable from negative yesterday, saying the government may be able to achieve a narrower budget deficit than previously estimated. Companies from Russia are valued at 7.2 times projected 2010 earnings, less than half the 16.6 ratio for stocks in other emerging markets traced in the MSCI Index, according to Otkritie. The Russian multiple will rise if oil stays above USD 70 a barrel, according to the brokerage.