Russia stocks fall on global investor fears of Trump impeachment

MOSCOW, May 18 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market closed lower on Thursday due to a clearly pessimistic external environment, analysts said.

The MICEX fell 1.34% to 1,967.66 and the RTS slid 2.49% to 1,076.80.

“The domestic market was pressured by a negative mood of global investors caused by a deepening political conflict in the United States, which may even result in impeachment of President Donald Trump,” Raiffeisen Capital analyst Sofya Kirsanova said.

Forex Club analyst Irina Rogova added that in case of Donald Trump’s impeachment, Vice President Mike Pence may take the office to make relations between Russia and the U.S. even tenser.

Gas giant Gazprom sagged by 3.91% to 126.9 rubles on disappointment about its 2016 dividends, approved by the government at only 8 rubles per share -- almost unchanged from 7.89 rubles per share recommended by the company’s management.

Oil stocks were among market outsiders as the Brent oil price again fell to a $51 per barrel mark, Otkritie Broker analyst Andrei Kochetkov said. Bashneft dropped by 2.94% to 2,941 rubles and Rosneft fell by 2.1% to 305 rubles.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Gazprom	-3.91%	126.90	10.293
Sberbank	-1.62%	166.50	9.558
Lukoil	+0.24%	2,877.00	2.329
Norilsk Nickel	+0.57%	8,420.00	2.011
Rosneft	-2.10%	305.00	1.915

(56.7383 rubles – U.S. $1)

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