Russian stocks close mixed amid significant ruble strengthening

MOSCOW, Oct 12 (PRIME) -- There were mixed dynamics on the Russian stock market on Thursday following the ruble’s steep upward movement, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index fell 0.61% to 3,174.66 and the RTS increased 2.11% to 1,026.42.

“The Russian stock market demonstrated no single dynamics at the end of the main trading session on Thursday, but tended to recover in the ruble segment… The RTS index opened with a gap, but its further movement will depend on the ruble’s ability to grow,” Veles Broker analyst Yelena Kozhukhova said.

The ruble added around 3% against the U.S. dollar, the euro and the yuan as of the end of the trading session after the government had introduced compulsory sales of foreign currency revenue by the exporters, she added.

The shares of agricultural holding Rusagro and oil company Lukoil showed great performance without evident fundamental reasons, Kozhukhova said.

The shares of the Moscow Exchange also outperformed the market hitting a record high since September 2021 on the news the bourse’s trading turnover reached 900 trillion rubles in January–September, she added.

Senior Trader at managing company Alfa-Capital Vladislav Silayev said that companies of the transport and the metallurgical sectors were among the worst performers during the day.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Lukoil	+2.85	7,087	17.957
Sberbank	+1.34	263.69	6.313
Gazprom	+0.73	169.12	4.947
Surgutneftegas, prefs	+0.6	53.4	3.623
Tatneft	-0.15	617.9	3.226

(99.9808 rubles – U.S. $1)

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