Russian stocks climbed, paced by OAO Lukoil, OAO Surgutneftegaz and OAO Sberbank.

The ruble-denominated Micex Index added 1.4 percent to 1694.31 at 2:07 p.m. in Moscow. The dollar-denominated RTS Index climbed 1.2 percent to 1909.08.

Lukoil, the country's second-biggest oil producer, rose 1.7 percent to 2046 rubles. Surgutneftegaz, Russia's fourth-largest, climbed to 1.8 percent to 29.971 rubles.

Brent crude oil for August settlement was at $71.64 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures exchange at 9:39 a.m. local time. Oil and gas producers have the largest weightings in Russian equity indexes.

Sberbank, Russia's biggest bank, rose 2.1 percent to 100,850 rubles. The state-run bank said yesterday it intends to increase its market value this year and publish quarterly results to international standards.