Russian stocks close mixed amid oil price rise, weak US statistics

MOSCOW, Feb 2  (PRIME) -- Russian stocks closed mixed amid the Brent price increase, the volatility of the ruble against the U.S. dollar and the euro, ongoing geopolitical tensions, and weak economic statistics of the U.S., analysts said.

The MICEX fell 1.36% to 1,625.31 and the RTS increased 1.15% to 745.82.

The RTS growth was technically backed by the ruble strengthening to below 69 against the dollar in light of the Brent price rise, but “it is unlikely that there are fundamental grounds of the trend taking into account geopolitics and stagnation of the economy,” Yevgeny Loktyukhov, head of Promsvyazbank’s analytical department, said.

The price for Brent oil peaked at U.S. $55.4 per barrel in the middle of the day and then traded at about $54.73 per barrel; analysts attributed the rise to the news that the number of U.S. drilling wells is decreasing.

The government’s anti-crisis plan for 2015–2016 includes measures to stabilize the economy, support import substitution, decrease costs for Russian business, as well as encourage small and medium businesses and specific branches of the country’s economy. Some analysts believe that active implementation of anti-crisis measures may eventually support the market.

The dynamics of Ukrainian conflict put the MICEX under additional pressure along with remaining fears that new sanctions can be introduced against Russia, Timur Nigmatullin, analyst at Finam, said. Russia’s purchasing managers’ index (PMI) for the processing sector fell to 47.6 points in January, the lowest figure since June 2009, from 48.9 points in December 2014, becoming another negative factor for the stocks, he said.

The interest of foreign investors in Russian stocks was limited by the news that the U.S. economic growth slowed down to 2.6% against expected 3.0% in October–December 2014, Vladimir Bragin, head of Alfa-Capital’s analytical department, said.

Mechel fell 11.73% to 39.59 rubles, as VTB filed a 50.2 billion ruble debt claim against the company.

AFK Sistema rose 5.4% to 14.05 rubles, as a court denied an Ural-Invest request to reject a 70.7 billion ruble claim of AFK Sistema against the company and scheduled the hearing for February 16.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	-0.16	61.40	11.971
Gazprom	-3.92	138.18	8.303
Lukoil	-1.43	2750.10	4.636
Norilsk Nickel	-2.84	11280.00	1.861
Rosneft	+0.52	230.55	1.773

(68.9291 rubles – U.S. $1)

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