Ruble depreciation makes Russian stocks to close mixed

MOSCOW, Aug 11 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market closed mixed on Friday with the MOEX Russia Index rising and the RTS Index falling hit by the contracting ruble, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index rose 0.21% to 3,155.51 and the RTS decreased 1.65% to 1,000.89.

“The Russian stock market did not show significant changes in the ruble segment and was under the pressure in the U.S. dollar segment because of the weakness of the national currency,” Veles Capital analyst Yelena Kozhukhova said.

The foreign stock floors showed no unity ahead of publication of a U.S. produce price inflation index and were concerned about new difficulties in the Chinese housing sector. The changes in the MOEX Russia Index and the RTS Index were restrained by expectations of new dividend signals, she said.

“The positive dynamics of the ruble benchmark was still supported by great financial performance of the companies and by dividend expectations of investors. The U.S. dollar index reacted to depreciation of the ruble with a fall,” Freedom Finance Analyst Natalya Milchakova said.

The shares of oil and gas pipe producer TMK gained 5.18% to 233.50 rubles because of positive expectations of the company’s report for January–June she said.

BCS World of Investment’s stock market expert Dmitry Babin said that the ruble has been losing ground right from the start of the Friday trading session feeling the imbalance between demand for the foreign currency and its supply. Contraction of export revenue reduced the inflow of foreign currency, but growing oil prices may raise the inflow, he said.

Kozhukhova also said that the shares of oil company RussNeft increased by 2.83% to 174.50 rubles even prior to the announcement of the dividend recommendation from board of directors. The board recommended paying U.S. $1.122 per preferred share in dividends for 2022.

Freedom Finance Global’s analyst Vladimir Chernov said that the shares of Globaltruck, one of Russia’s largest truck carriers, jumped by 46.89% to 203 rubles showing a double-digit growth for a second time over the past several months without any newsworthy event.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
VTB	-0.89	0.0283	6.509
Sberbank	-0.18	266.43	5.622
Globaltruck Management	+46.89	203.00	4.625
Lukoil	-0.11	6245.00	3.930
TMK	+5.18	233.50	3.729

(97.2794 rubles – U.S. $1)

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