Nov. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Russian stocks rallied the most in more than three months, leading gains in global equity markets, as oil climbed above $79 a barrel and the Group of 20 nations agreed to maintain stimulus efforts.

OAO Rosneft, the nation’s largest oil company, and lender OAO Sberbank jumped more than 6 percent. All 30 stocks in the Micex Index advanced, lifting the gauge 5.1 percent to 1,304.62. The index jumped the most since July and the steepest gain among 89 benchmark indexes tracked by Bloomberg.

The Micex has more than doubled this year as oil and metals, the nation’s biggest exports, surged on speculation the global economic recovery will boost demand for fuel and raw materials. The ruble climbed to the highest level this year versus the dollar.

“The dollar is down, oil is up -- both of these factors are very supportive of the ruble and the Russian market in general,” Vladimir Osakovsky, a Moscow-based economist at UniCredit SpA, said in a telephone interview.

U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling, hosting a meeting of finance ministers from the richest nations, said his colleagues decided to keep supporting their economies. The G-20 agreed to keep interest rates low and maintain record budget deficits until recoveries take hold. The dollar slumped as much as 0.9 percent against a basket of six major currencies.

Concern stimulus measure would be withdrawn and a retreat in oil sent the Micex down more than 10 percent from Oct. 21 to Nov. 3, the threshold for a so-called correction. The gauge has recovered more than half of those losses since then.

Commodities Rally

Crude rose 2.3 percent to $79.23 a barrel by the close of equity trading in Moscow, as a falling dollar bolstered investor demand for commodities and Tropical Storm Ida entered the Gulf of Mexico, forcing BP Plc and Chevron Corp. to cut output.

Copper futures climbed 1.4 percent to $2.994 a pound at 8:10 a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange’s Comex unit. Gold climbed to a record $1,111.70 an ounce in New York and London as a weaker dollar prompted investors to buy bullion as an alternative.

Rosneft increased 6.4 percent to 238.22 rubles, its biggest gain since Aug. 21. OAO Gazprom, the world’s biggest natural-gas producer, climbed 3.9 percent to 181.63 rubles.

OAO GMK Norilsk Nickel, Russia’s biggest mining company, climbed 4.9 percent to 4,087.83 rubles. OAO Polyus Gold gained 3.1 percent to 1,723.13 rubles, the highest close since May 2008.

OAO Mechel, Russia’s largest producer of coal used in steelmaking, surged 5.2 percent to $21.05 a share as of 11:06 a.m. in New York trading. The company reported a net income of $219.3 million in the second quarter, compared with a net loss of $690.7 million in the first three months of the year.

Sberbank, VTB Gain

Sberbank, the country’s biggest lender, added 6.4 percent to 68.98 rubles. The lender’s preferred shares jumped 11 percent to 52.29 rubles, the biggest gain in the Micex Index today.

Russia’s currency strengthened 1.1 percent to 28.7375 per dollar, the highest closing level since December. A stronger ruble discourages Russians from converting local-currency deposits, Sberbank’s main source of funding.

Against the euro the ruble was little changed, gaining less than 0.1 percent to 43.1110, leaving the Russian currency at 35.2011 versus the central bank’s dollar-euro basket.

The basket, used by Bank Rossii to manage currency swings that hurt Russian exporters, is calculated by multiplying the dollar’s rate to the ruble by 0.55, the euro to ruble rate by 0.45, then adding them together. The ruble remains within the 26 to 41 band the central bank pledged Jan. 22 to defend.

VTB Group, Russia’ second-biggest bank, added 7.6 percent to 6.24 kopeks, rising for a third day.

To contact the reporter on this story: Denis Maternovsky in Moscow at dmaternovsky@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: November 9, 2009 11:22 EST