Russian stocks close flat as investors return to risky assets

MOSCOW, Mar 22 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market closed with marginal changes on Wednesday after falling for most of the day as foreign investors started to return to risky assets after a period of disinterest, analysts said.

The MICEX rose 0.66% to 2,061.53, and the RTS went up 0.14% to 1,123.17.

“The Russian stock market indices were heavily influenced by a negative external background which provoked an all-encompassing flight from risky assets including oil. Cheapening of Brent to the lower margin of the key support zone of U.S. $50 exerted an additional pressure on the domestic benchmarks,” InstaForex analyst Igor Kovalyov said.

“But at the end of the day, the MICEX managed to take back the intraday losses and added 0.2% half an hour before the end of the trade: positive moods returned to the U.S. stock market at the trade start,” Yevgeny Loktyukhov, head of Promsvyazbank’s research department said.

Kovalyov said that U.S. investors are worried over the prospects of the domestic policies of President Donald Trump, which caused a sagging of U.S. stocks on Tuesday, and on Wednesday, other global markets followed the trend.

Shares of the Russian financial sector were declining on the back of the currency exchange rate changes.

Oil and gas sector stocks grew after S&P improved the credit rating outlook for the key Russian market players to positive from stable, he said.

Preferred shares of Transneft outperformed the market, soaring 7.98% on the back of strong financial results published on Tuesday, the analyst said.

The government ordered the Federal State Property Management Agency to amend the articles of association of Transneft, making the preferred and common shares equal in terms of dividends. Investors hope that this will raise the dividends to private stakeholders of the company who own preferred shares, analysts said.

Otkritie Broker analyst Andrei Kochetkov said that M. Video’s shares grew 0.50% on the back of an impressive financial performance in 2016.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	-0.04	162.92	6.587
Gazprom	+1.82	131.65	4.722
Lukoil	+0.63	3120.5	2.422
Rosneft	+1.38	320.35	2.409
FGC UES	+3.59	0.1948	2.359

(57.2323 rubles – U.S. $1)

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