Russian stocks close lower on falling oil, Western bourses

MOSCOW, Oct 6 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market contracted on Wednesday as it followed the foreign bourses and oil prices, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index fell 1.23% to 4,171.71 and the RTS decreased 1.38% to 1,814.64.

“Since the middle of the day, the Russian stock indices switched into the red zone following worsening sentiment in the world,” Veles Capital’s analyst Yelena Kozhukhova said.

The oil price also lost more than 1%, adding fuel to the fire of the negative mood, she said.

“On Wednesday, the rally of the Russian market stopped as it followed dynamics of the prices for natural gas and oil,” Alexandra Ovchinnikova, analyst at Sber Asset Management, said.

The bourses in Asia and Europe fell as the market expected international economic incentives to wind down, and the U.S. indices also started the Wednesday trade with a contraction on concerns of a rapid inflation growth.

Alexander Vernikov, head of the investment analysis and education department of investment company Univer Capital, said that the national market lacked new positive drivers. Even the Tuesday improvement of outlook for Russia’s gross domestic product growth in 2021 by the World Bank was not a driver as it was only a reflection of high oil prices and the economic impact from budget stimuli of the Russian government.

Kozhukhova also said that fertilizer producer PhosAgro grew by 5.10% to 5,315 rubles on the news about lower imports of fertilizers from China, which should boost prices.

Steelmaker Severstal gained 2.63% to 1,524 rubles mainly due to technical factors as the shares grew from the mid-term lowest point of 1,430.20 rubles and were overbought, she added.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Gazprom	-3.92	374.54	69.130
Sberbank	-0.13	362.71	33.376
Lukoil	-4.05	7049.00	10.215
Rosneft	-2.86	636.50	9.471
VTB	-0.13	0.053765	6.306

(72.5686 rubles – U.S. $1)

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