Russian stocks close mixed on falling ruble, Gazprom shares

MOSCOW, Mar 24 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market closed mixed on Friday mainly because of the falling ruble and poor performance of Gazprom’s shares while investors were waiting for the sanction news, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index rose 0.13% to 2,391.53 and the RTS decreased 1.18% to 977.75.

The U.S. dollar-denominated RTS Index was hurt by a 1% decline against the U.S. dollar in the evening but remained stable against the euro and the Chinese yuan, Veles Capital analyst Yelena Kozhukhova said.

“The MOEX Russia Index continued to move in a narrow range slightly below 2,400. Positive investor mood prevailed on the market in general, but muted movements of Sberbank and Gazprom shares dashed hopes that the index will climb above the level,” Promsvyazbank senior analyst Alexei Golovinov said.

Freedom Finance Global analyst Vladimir Chernov said that the shares of Gazprom underperformed and gained only 0.09% to 169 rubles as the European prices for natural gas that contracted because of the warmer air temperature.

Kozhukhova also said that the shares of Bank Saint Petersburg gained 11.50% to 155.20 rubles on the news that the board of directors recommended paying dividends. The bank may pay 21.16 rubles per ordinary share in final dividends for 2022 providing the yield of around 13.5%, which drove the shares to the historic highs, she said.

“The MOEX Russia Index and the RTS Index showed no significant changes while they were waiting for possible new developments on the sanctions front from the E.U. summit,” Kozhukhova said.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	+0.24	203.07	4.173
Bank Saint Petersburg	+11.50	155.20	3.234
Gazprom	+0.09	169.00	2.132
VTB	-1.43	0.017895	1.806
Polyus	-0.01	9478.50	0.943

(76.3072 rubles – U.S. $1)

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