Investing.com – Russia stocks were higher after the close on Thursday, as gains in the Telecoms , Mining and Oil & Gas sectors led shares higher.

At the close in Moscow, the MOEX Russia Index rose 0.68%.

The best performers of the session on the MOEX Russia Index were Rostelekom PJSC (MCX: RTKM ), which rose 5.01% or 3.75 points to trade at 78.60 at the close. Meanwhile, OK Rusal MKPAO (MCX: RUAL ) added 3.41% or 1.28 points to end at 38.98 and Aeroflot PJSC (MCX: AFLT ) was up 2.84% or 2.13 points to 77.16 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Gazprom PJSC (MCX: GAZP ), which fell 1.84% or 3.25 points to trade at 173.00 at the close. Bank VTB PJSC (MCX: VTBR ) declined 1.68% or 1.59 points to end at 92.91 and Moskovskiy Kreditnyi Bank PAO (MCX: CBOM ) was down 1.26% or 0.12 points to 9.57.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Moscow Stock Exchange by 168 to 72 and 14 ended unchanged.

Shares in Aeroflot PJSC (MCX: AFLT ) rose to 3-years highs; gaining 2.84% or 2.13 to 77.16.

The Russian Volatility Index – RVI , which measures the implied volatility of MOEX Russia Index options, was down 4.12% to 40.53.

Gold Futures for April delivery was up 0.63% or 18.60 to $2,954.70 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in April rose 0.54% or 0.39 to hit $72.49 a barrel, while the April Brent oil contract rose 0.60% or 0.46 to trade at $76.50 a barrel.

USD/RUB was down 1.06% to 88.67, while EUR/RUB fell 0.28% to 93.13.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.76% at 106.25.