Russian stocks close flat on Christmas holidays in rest of world

MOSCOW, Dec 25 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market closed with marginal changes on Friday as almost all global markets were closed for Christmas holidays, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index rose 0.29% to 3,246.35, and the RTS Index was flat at 1,378.36.

"On Friday, December 25, the Russian market traded in splendid solitude. It is noteworthy that even the Middle Eastern trading floors did not work because it was a holiday in the Islamic world,” Otkritie Broker analyst Andrei Kochetkov said.

“Europe started Christmas holidays in a good mood due to a trade deal between the U.K. and the E.U. In fact, the deal cements the rules existing before while postponing the difficult issues."

Russian Economic Development Minister Maxim Reshetnikov told the State Duma, parliament's lower chamber, that the economy will fall by only 3.8% in 2020, which was one of the few events that influenced the market, Kochetkov said.

Veles Capital analyst Yelena Kozhukhova said that the oil market was moderately positive as the closest Brent and WTI futures rose by 0.5% and were expected to grow more on December 28.

Kochetkov said that the financial sector was the weakest in Russia, while power companies increased.

Kozhukhova said that Severstal (+2.62%) and other steel companies continued growing on expectations of market recovery.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Mechel	-0.76	78.1	4.381
Gazprom	-0.54	205.12	3.005
Sberbank	+0.51	270.7	2.801
NLMK	+1.82	223.8	2.273
MMK	+2.59	57.77	1.685

(74.8392 rubles – U.S. $1)

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