Negative comments after Russia–NATO talks drag stocks downwards

MOSCOW, Jan 13 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market decreased significantly on Thursday on the back of negative comments of Russian officials following negotiations with NATO, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index dropped 4.05% to 3,674.73 and the RTS slid 5.94% to 1,516.99.

“The MOEX Russia and the RTS indices accelerated their fall at the end of the main trading session after comments of the Russian side on the results of the Russia–NATO talks, which have not given much ground for optimism,” Veles Broker analyst Yelena Kozhukhova said.

Deputy Foreign Minister Ryabkov warned Ukraine and Western states against a military solution of the Donbass problem, and President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that possible sanctions against Putin can lead to a break of the relations between the states, she added.

Senior analyst at financial supermarket Banki.Ru Bogdan Zvarich said that the external environment was positive, which partially prevented the local market from a deeper decrease. 

The nearest Brent oil futures added 0.3% to slightly below U.S. $85, European bourses were seen mixed, and the main U.S. benchmarks grew by 0.3% in the first minutes of trading.

Below are the MOEX Russia Index’s five most active stocks on Thursday:

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	-6.85	270.5	48.264
Gazprom	-3.67	334.69	34.223
Norilsk Nickel	-6.52	22472	18.075
Lukoil	-4.66	6636	10.616
VTB Bank	-7	0.0466	6.982

(74.5277 – U.S. $1)

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