Russian stocks close mixed amid weak oil price growth

MOSCOW, Nov 9 (PRIME) -- Russian stocks closed mixed on Monday after growing during almost the entire trading day, as oil prices slowed their growth and failed to reach the level of U.S. $48 per barrel by the trading’s close, analysts said.

The MICEX fell 0.17% to 1,751.44 and the RTS increased 0.11% to 855.26.

“The Russian market lost its daytime growth moving to the red zone by the end of trading,” Vasily Tanurkov, deputy head of investment company Veles Capital’s stock market analysis department, said.

The foreign background was mixed for the Russian market on Monday. European and the U.S. stock indicators demonstrated moderate decline, continuing winning back recent data on the U.S. labor market, which increased the possibility of the U.S.’ Federal Reserve increasing its key rate already in December, the analyst said. The Chinese stock market closed higher despite poor trade balance data.

“Concerns about an increase of an interest rate at the Fed’s nearest meeting are high, that’s why traders prefer to take a wait-and-see position,” Finam analyst Bogdan Zvarich said.

National top lender Sberbank’s common shares fell 1.21% and preferred shares went down 0.80% after the bank said that its net profit fell 39% on the year to 178.3 billion rubles in January–October, as calculated under Russian Accounting Standards (RAS).

Steelmaker Novolipetsk Steel (NLMK) grew 4.31% on reports that its net profit rose 27% on the year to U.S. $410 million in July–September, as calculated under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	-1.21	92.95	7.402
Gazprom	-0.91	136.50	3.571
Lukoil	+0.72	2530.00	2.086
Norilsk Nickel	-0.15	9499.00	1.313
MMK	+1.39	23.00	1.303

(63.6832 rubles – U.S. $1)

End