Oversold Russian stocks decrease on profit taking, low oil

MOSCOW, Apr 21 (PRIME) -- Russian stocks decreased on Thursday as investors decided to take profit after the MICEX renewed a record high and as oil prices resumed a decline trend in the second half of the day, analysts said.

The MICEX fell 0.52% to 1,950.08 and the RTS decreased 1.69% to 927.23.

“The reduction of Russian indices is mostly caused by profit taking. Moreover, in the second half of the day oil (price) started falling after breaking the maximum since November 2015 having risen to U.S. $46.18 per barrel,” Forex Club analyst Irina Rogova said.

On the whole, Russian indices remain on the same wave with global stocks, as the U.S. and European index futures are demonstrating a downward correction, she said.

“In our view, the reduction is caused by profit taking on long positions evoked by the MICEX index setting a new record high,” investment company Finam analyst Bogdan Zvarich said.

In the first half of the day, the ruble-denominated MICEX set a new record high of 1,976.69 on Brent oil price reaching $46 per barrel and amid the absence of negative news, Otkritie Broker analyst Andrei Kochetkov said.

“The sales were outlined in the first minutes of trading. The reduction of local indices started almost immediately after their positive opening,” Vitaly Manzhos, a senior analyst at Bank Obrazovanie, said.

Uncut diamond mining giant ALROSA closed 0.90% lower on reports that its output fell 2% on the year to 8.2 million carats in January–March.

Steel maker Severstal grew 1% despite reporting a 19.6% decline in January–March net profit calculated under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).

Power producer E.ON Russia increased 0.35% on reports that its power output rose 13% on the year to 15.49 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) in January–March.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	-3.70	119.17	22.132
Gazprom	-0.09	161.80	10.365
Lukoil	+0.70	2890.00	3.968
Norilsk Nickel	+1.18	9368.00	3.313
Rosneft	+0.29	323.00	2.448

(66.0364 rubles – U.S. $1)

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