Russia stocks fall on weak Brent, thin news flow ahead of holidays

MOSCOW, May 7 (PRIME) -- Russian stocks fell on Thursday following the Brent price in thin trade ahead of long Victory Day holidays, analysts said.

The MICEX fell 1.59% to 1,686.98 and the RTS decreased 0.51% to 1,060.73.

“The negative dynamics of the indices was supported by oil prices, which are exercising a significant downward correction that started yesterday and fell below U.S. $67 already. As internal news background is very thin now, the hydrocarbon market remains the driver for the indices,” Andrei Dirgin, head of the Alfa-Forex’ analytical department, said.

The Russian stock market was also depressed by mass sales on European trading floors; the MICEX was particularly affected, while the decrease of the dollar-denominated RTS was technically limited by a strong ruble, according to Natalia Samoilova, head of the Golden Hills-Kapital’s analytical department.

On Friday, Russian stocks are likely to fall as some investors will take profits in anticipation of public holidays, Samoilova said.

Russian top bank Sberbank fell 3.41% to 76.5 rubles as it may be excluded from the MSCI Russia Index during its next rebalancing, Anton Fomin, analyst at InstaForex, said.

Steel maker Severstal rose 1.96% to 583 rubles after the company had bought a 20-year license for a coal deposit on the Yamal Peninsula, Sofya Kirsanova, analyst at Raiffeisen Capital,said.

UTair fell 10.66% to 30.8 rubles on rumors that its subsidiary UTair-Leasing may face bankruptcy, which appeared after Alfa-Bank had filed 10 motions to withdraw claims against the airline on Wednesday, Fomin said.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	-3.41	76.50	8.631
Gazprom	-2.03	152.10	4.450
Lukoil	-0.36	2650.50	2.522
Norilsk Nickel	-2.85	10201.00	2.396
VTB	-1.16	0.06752	2.260

(49.9816 rubles – U.S. $1)

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