Russian stock market closes mixed on divs approvals, weaker ruble

MOSCOW, Jul 1 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market closed mixed on Friday, with the MOEX Russia index being supported by some positive dividends stories and the RTS index following a drop in the ruble, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index edged up by 0.08% to 2,206.61, and the RTS index dived by 5.09% to 1,279.55.

“The Russian stock market finished the trading session without single dynamics in attempts to stabilize in the ruble segment after dividend payouts were approved by a number of companies,” Veles Capital’s analyst Yelena Kozhukhova said.

The RTS index was pushed down by a fall in the ruble by about 5% to 54.20 against the U.S. dollar and to 56.40 against the euro, she said.

The stocks of Gazprom continued their decline caused by a Thursday decision not to pay dividends for 2021,  Kozhukhova said.

Freedom Finance analysts said that Rosneft and Surgutneftegas “became the newsmakers of Friday” after their shareholders approved paying final dividends for 2021 at the respective annual general meetings.

Rosneft rose 3.56% after a decision to pay a record of 23.63 rubles per share. The combined payout for 2021 will amount to 41.66 rubles per share, or a total of 441.5 billion rubles, which is 50% of the IFRS net profit attributable to shareholders.

Surgutneftegas grew 4.49% after a decision to pay 0.8 rubles per ordinary share and 4.73 rubles per preferred share. The combined payout will account for about 13% of the IFRS net profit.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Gazprom	-7	192.5	22.243
Sberbank	+3.76	129.91	7.809
Rosneft	+3.56	375.15	2.595
Lukoil	+1	3944	1.995
Novatek	+3.54	1060.2	1.693

(52.5123 rubles – U.S. $1)

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