Russian stocks close lower on new US sanctions

MOSCOW, Apr 15 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market dropped by the end of trading on Thursday pressured by the introduction of new U.S. sanctions, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index fell 0.23% to 3,568.51 and the RTS decreased 1.02% to 1,474.85.

“The MOEX Russia Index and the RTS remained in minus by the end of trading, but still did not abandon attempts to regain intraday losses after the confirmation of reports about introduction of the U.S. sanctions against the Russian state debt,” Veles Capital analyst Yelena Kozhukhova said.

The foreign background was moderately positive. Trading in the U.S. started with growth of three main indices, which were adding around 0.7–1% by the end of the Russian session. Moderately positive moods were seen on European floors.

The nearest futures for Brent and WTI oil were fluctuating between plus and minus in the second half of the session changing within 0.5%.

Aluminum giant UC RUSAL was among growth leaders, adding 3.54% on higher aluminum prices. Diamond giant ALROSA rose 3.81%, precious metals producer Polymetal increased 3.33%, and steelmaker Severstal grew 3.23%.

Global depositary receipts (GDRs) of agricultural holding Rusagro fell 3.45%, and multi-industry holding Sistema went down 2.69%.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	-1.4	283.17	24.027
Gazprom	+0.07	235.49	14.059
Norilsk Nickel	+1.04	25144.00	10.728
Lukoil	-0.95	6075.50	6.940
Yandex	-0.03	4659.80	4.005

(75.6826 rubles – U.S. $1)

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