Russian stocks close flat after earlier growth on mixed background

MOSCOW, Aug 25 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market demonstrated growth at the beginning of the day, but reversed later to lose the gains and closed almost flat on Thursday amid a mixed global environment, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index eased 0.08% to 2,246.34 and the RTS increased 0.03% to 1,182.71.

“The MOEX Russia Index lost everything it had gained during the day, and finished the day below the 2,250 mark,” Alexei Golovinov, chief analyst at PSB Bank, said.

Energy stocks were among the heaviest losers with oil company Surgutneftegas being the worst performer, he also said. The only exclusions were independent gas producer Novatek, which grew thanks to the board of directors’ recommendation to pay 45 rubles per share in dividends for January–June, and oil company Bashneft, which continued to rise.  

Electronic goods retailer M.Video-Eldorado lost significant 7.82% on a weak financial report for January–June.

Managing company Pervaya analyst Anton Tarasov said that the global environment looked mixed at the end of the Russian market’s trading session.

Sentiments on the European stock exchanges worsened by the end of the day in light of rising prices for energy. The core U.S. benchmarks were trading mainly in the green territory.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	+0.02	128.18	4.630
Gazprom	-0.51	181.9	2.724
Novatek	-0.45	1140.8	2.306
Lukoil	-1.51	4055	1.650
TCS Group	+1.8	2626	1.102

(59.9974 rubles – U.S. $1)

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