Russian stocks close mixed in jittery global trade

MOSCOW, Mar 2 (PRIME) – The Russian stocks closed mixed on Monday as uncertainty and volatility prevail on the global bourses, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index fell 0.69% to 2,765.77 and the RTS increased 0.29% to 1,303.47.

“The general mood at the global stock bourses and commodity exchanges showed some signs of improvement at the beginning of this week, but volatility was very high, which makes any attempts at playing for an upward rebound very risky,” Yelena Kozhukhova, analyst at Veles Capital said.

The background was mixed for the Russian market, as the U.S. stocks and oil opened higher exerting some support to the national market while the European floors fell, Kozhukhova said.

“The Russian stock market failed to show full recovery on Monday in spite of the background. The situation on the energy market supported our market, as the earliest futures contracts for the Brent oil was above U.S. $50.5 per barrel. The general situation at the external stock floors was neutral for our shares. In Europe, major indices fell by up to 0.7% in the evening, while in the U.S., the Dow Jones and the S&P 500 rose by 0.4% and 0.2%, respectively,” Bogdan Zvarich, senior analyst at Promsvyazbank, said.

Andrei Kochetkov, senior analyst at Otkritie Broker, said that children goods retailer Detsky Mir outperformed the market and grew 0.63% to 112.50 rubles. The company reported a 16.1% increase in revenue in 2019, an 11% growth of the net profit, and like-for-like sales that grew by 7.2% last year, he said.

Titanium giant VSMPO-Avisma gained 6.69% to 22,000 rubles as the shares remain one of the safest securities that pay regular dividends with a yield higher than market average, Kochetkov said.

Investment company Freedom Finance said in a research note that top lender Sberbank was among the losers falling by 2.22% to 228.17 rubles after the central bank asked for a delay of a deadline to transfer money from the sale of its stake in the bank until December 1. The authority plans to wait for higher prices. Money of the National Wealth Fund should have supported the shares, but this factor is now delayed, the analysts said.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Gazprom	-1.91	198.78	30.752
Sberbank	-2.22	228.17	23.615
Lukoil	-2.62	5550.00	16.503
Norilsk Nickel	-0.44	20160.00	10.744
Rosneft	-2.21	394.50	4.767

(66.9909 rubles – U.S. $1)

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