Russian stocks close mixed on lack of strong drivers

MOSCOW, Jun 6 (PRIME) -- Russian stocks closed mixed on Wednesday as local investors lacked strong drivers for any kind of movement, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index fell 0.12% to 2,315.45 and the RTS increased 0.42% to 1,177.73.

“There was lull the Russian market again today,” Andrei Kochetkov, an analyst at Otkritie Broker, said, adding that oil prices were stable providing no significant impact on the Russian market.

The Brent oil price remained flat at U.S. $75.38 per barrel as of 5.28 p.m. Moscow time, according to the ICE exchange.

Kochetkov also said that the European indices were in the red zone early in the day as European Central Bank Chief Economist Peter Praet said that ECB’s governing council may assess the quantitative easing program of the bank next week to consider a possibility to ease it. But the emotional reaction died down during the day, and indices returned to the green zone, he said.

Vasily Oleinik, an analyst at investment company Finam, also pointed to the summer lull, but added that local trade may have been somewhat hindered by an unfavorable news flow in Asia.

“The composite index of the Asian region finished the day almost flat, though the majority of the stock indices eased. Investors in China again started to flee from risk after a new policy turn by U.S. President Donald Trump…who threatened to sign a decree on new, higher duties for Chinese goods on June 15, pushing the world toward a new round of trade wars,” he said.

Shares of retailer Magnit lost 4.60% after the company said it was negotiating with Marathon Group, which has recently become its minority shareholder, an acquisition of pharmaceuticals distributor SIA Group. Kochetkov said that the pharmacy retail business is supposed to be profitable, but financial reports of major players of the sector say otherwise.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	+1.09	217.90	7.767
Magnit	-4.60	4937.00	3.489
Gazprom	+0.62	146.90	2.516
Lukoil	-0.32	4264.50	2.228
Norilsk Nickel	+0.77	11640.00	1.516

(61.9822 rubles – U.S. $1)

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