Russian stocks close mixed as energy firms rise, ruble falls

MOSCOW, Jun 13 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market closed mixed on Tuesday with the MOEX Russia Index receiving support from rising oil companies, while the RTS Index was undermined by the latest ruble’s depreciation, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index rose 1.82% to 2,757.28 and the RTS decreased 0.16% to 1,030.64.

“The MOEX Russia Index and the RTS Index tried to recover on corporate stories in spite of the weak ruble. The ruble devaluation factor remains a positive driver for the Russian exporters just like the dividend expectations. Also, Russian investors are waiting for news on re-domiciliation of many companies registered abroad,” Veles Capital analyst Yelena Kozhukhova said.

The background for the market was positive. The European bourses remained in the green zone while investors were waiting for important macroeconomic events that are to happen in the U.S. later this week. The futures for the U.S. stock indices edged up because investors expected an inflation slowdown in May, a report on which was to be released on Tuesday, Kozhukhova said.

“The weak ruble is the main defining factor for the Russian stock market. The shares of oil companies, gas companies, and steelmakers rose. In fact, all exporters were popular because a weak ruble raises the ruble-denominated revenue of the companies that have the majority of their spending in the ruble zone,” Otkritie Broker leading analyst for global research Andrei Kochetkov said.

At the same time, Kommersant business daily reported that the Finance Ministry wanted to delay a 20% exemption from the mineral extraction tax for mature fields from 2024 for three years. The delay could have a serious negative impact as about 25% of Russian fields are mature, and their production may be reduced, he said.

Freedom Finance Global’s analyst Vladimir Chernov said that the growth of oil prices supported the shares of major oil companies. Rosneft rose by 3% to 477.40 rubles, Lukoil gained 3.07% to 5,233 rubles, and Tatneft increased by 1.82% to 481 rubles.

Natalya Milchakova, leading analyst at Freedom Finance Global, said that the preferred shares of oil pipeline monopoly Transneft were the loss leaders falling by 3.98% to 132,700 rubles because of uncertainty around the dividend recommendation for 2022.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	+1.32	243.58	8.492
Lukoil	+3.07	5233.00	6.244
VTB	+0.90	0.02299	3.901
Transneft prefs	-3.98	132700.00	3.699
Gazprom	+1.46	168.00	3.141

(82.6417 rubles – U.S. $1)

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