China, Greek woes, Fitch possible downgrade depress Russian stocks

MOSCOW, Jul 3 (PRIME) --Russian stocks fell on Friday depressed by Greek debt problems, the falling Chinese stock market, weaker ruble, Brent and the possibility that Fitch may downgrade the sovereign rating, analysts said.

The MICEX fell 0.57% to 1,631.65 and the RTS decreased 1.33% to 919.61.

“Due to the Greek problems and the fall of the Chinese market, investors do not want to buy Russian shares. On Friday the Chinese stock market fell again,” Andrei Vernikov, Zerich Capital’s deputy CEO, said.

Oil prices, which fell below U.S. $61 per barrel of Brent by the end of the trading session, put the stock market under additional pressure, according to Timur Nigmatullin, analyst at investment holding Finam.

The fall of the dollar-denominated RTS was sped up by the ruble weakening against the dollar by the end of the trading, the analyst said.

The uncertainty raised by international rating agency Fitch, which may revise the Russian credit rating from BBB- soon as well a Greek referendum on Sunday were not favored by market players, Nigmatullin said.

VTB fell 2.09% to 0.07584 rubles due to a dividend cut-off, Vitaly Manzhos, senior analyst at Bank Obrazovanie, said.

Agricultural producer Razgulay Group fell 4.95% to 14.03 rubles in a correction after a rise in June, when it was supported by the possibility of its acquisition by multi-industry holding AFK Sistema and by the extension of the Russian food ban.

Automaker GAZ rose 1.75% to 407 rubles, supported by Friday’s government decision to increase subsidies to car producers by 5 billion rubles, Manzhos said.

Below are the MICEX’ five most active stocks on Friday:

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	+0.18	70.67	4.140
Gazprom	-1.01	144.33	1.87
VTB	-2.09	0.07584	1.235
Lukoil	-1.21	2425.30	1.016
Surgutneftegas pref	-0.99	41.575	0.778

(55.6555 rubles – U.S. $1)

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