MOSCOW, May 20 (RIA Novosti) - The index of Russia's leading stock exchange, the RTS, closed above the psychologically important level of 1,000 points on Wednesday.

As of 18:00 Moscow time (14:00 GMT), the index of the dollar-denominated RTS grew by 5.69% to 1,023.98 points. Last week the RTS index also exceeded 1,000 points, but only for several minutes.

The index of the ruble-denominated MICEX rose 4.20% as of 18:15 Moscow time (14:15 GMT) to 1,085.60 points.

Analysts say that the rally on Russia's stock markets could be attributed to signs of an improvement on global financial markets, rising world oil prices and the return of foreign investors to Russian stock exchanges.