Russian stocks close mixed as oil price slumps

MOSCOW, Aug 1 (PRIME) -- Russian stocks closed mixed on Monday mainly due to a slump of oil prices while a mixed external background provided the market with no help, analysts said.

The MICEX rose 0.14% to 1,947.36 and the RTS decreased 0.54% to 922.53.

“The external background was mixed. On the one hand, weak U.S. gross domestic product data for April–June gave the market some hope that the Fed will not hurry with raising its rate,” Irina Rogova, an analyst at Forex Club group of companies, said.

“But Dow Jones and S&P futures fell, and European benchmarks were also under pressure. On the other hand, oil prices resumed their contraction after trying to continue their Friday upward correction.”

Andrei Kochetkov, an analyst at Otkritie Broker, said that the Russian market also took note of the Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) in the Russian manufacturing sector, which decreased to 49.5 points in July from 51.5 points in June. The indicator fell below a 50 point mark separating growth of economic activity from contraction.

“The Russian stock market lost the morning positive mood in the second half of the day following a fall in the oil prices…Oil in its turn was undermined by statistics that showed OPEC raising production by 100,000 barrels per day in July. Another negative impact came with the news that two oil terminals in Libya restarted operations, and the country may raise oil production by 150,000 barrels per day in two weeks and by 600,000 barrels per day until the end of 2016,” investment company Veles Capital said in a research note.

Retailer Magnit rose 1.67% to 10,381 rubles still supported by strong January–June financial results under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), Vitaly Manzhos, a senior analyst at Bank Obrazovanie, said.

Common and preferred shares of oil company Bashneft increased 5.91% to 3,066 rubles and 1.65% to 1,911 rubles, respectively due to expectations of the company’s privatization. There are enough companies willing to take part in the deal, which means that the placement price will be rather high, Manzhos said.

Shares of fertilizer producer Acron went up 1.17% to 3,460 rubles after the company posted its report under Russian Accounting Standards (RAS) for January–June. The net profit rose 29% on the year to 10.56 billion rubles in the period. Acron also launched accompanying mining of some rare earth metals, using a technology of an integrated treatment of apatite ores, Manzhos added.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	-0.45	138.52	6.565
Gazprom	-0.27	136.93	2.803
Surgutneftegas prefs	-1.84	32.00	1.934
Magnit	+1.67	10381.00	1.662
Norilsk Nickel	+2.04	9637.00	1.434

(67.0512 rubles – U.S. $1)

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