MOSCOW, December 15 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's investment index will open Friday at 763.22 points, up 0.5% on the previous day's trading, following Thursday evening's sessions on major world trading floors.

The Russian Industrial Leaders Index (RUXX) is a composite economic index of 21 Russian companies with financial instruments (shares and depository receipts) placed on bourses, including the New York Stock Exchange, the London Stock Exchange, the Nasdaq and AMEX.

In November the index rose 11.04%, following a 3.78% rise in October.

The RUXX has been calculated since January 1, 2006, and has been available for all global trading systems since February 1 this year with an initial base of 500 points.

The index is calculated in U.S. dollars and weighted according to companies' market capitalization. The higher the market capitalization, the larger the company's share in the index, with a weight cap of 20% for each company. Market capitalization and share weights in the index are changed quarterly.

The index includes Tatneft (NYSE, LSE), MTS (NYSE), Rostelecom (NYSE, LSE), VimpelCom (NYSE), Wimm-Bill-Dann (NYSE), Mechel (NYSE), Gazprom (LSE), LUKoil (LSE), Novatek (LSE), AFK Sistema (LSE), Golden Telecom (Nasdaq), Rambler Media Group (LSE), Norilsk Nickel (LSE, Nasdaq), Mosenergo (LSE, NYSE), Novolipetsk Steel (LSE), Unified Energy System (LSE, NYSE), Surgutneftegaz (LSE), STS Media (Nasdaq), Pyaterochka (LSE), Comstar UTS (LSE), and Cherkizovo Group (LSE).

The RUXX Index was launched by Press Release Group, a New York-based communications company, and RIA Novosti. It is calculated and disseminated by Dow Jones & Company. The index is published daily at 5.55 p.m. EST (10.55 p.m. GMT) by the Dow Jones ITC 2.1 data feed system and the Chicago Board of Trade.