Russian stocks close mixed on profit taking, ruble fall

MOSCOW, Aug 7 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market closed in a mixed way on Monday because of the profit taking in the shares of national companies with the RTS closing in the green zone because of the ruble's decline, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index fell 0.27% to 3,084.08 and the RTS increased 0.13% to 1,017.03.

“The Russian stock market rolled back from the intra-day highs in the evening because of the profit taking in the shares of several companies … The RTS Index gained some ground as it received support from the ruble,” Veles Capital’s analyst Yelena Kozhukhova said.

For instance, the shares of metals and mining group Mechel lost 2.32% to 220.24 rubles in a correction from the records of the previous week, while agricultural holding company Rusagro lost 1.38% to 1,115.80 in spite of the 7.8 billion ruble net profit posted in April–June. The company’s redomiciliation is going on slower than expected, and it has a direct impact on the possibility of dividend payments, Kozhukhova said.

She also said that a jump in the shares of Novorossiysk Commercial Sea Port (NCSP) of 25.85% to 16.43 rubles happened without fundamental reasons. It is obvious that investors expect new dividend payouts from the company, but one should not expect them soon because the record date for the dividends for 2022 passed not long ago.

The background for the Russian market was mixed during the day, with the European bourses falling in reaction to the uninspiring performance of the region’s producing sector and the oil price contracting in a correction. But the futures for the main U.S. indices were in the green zone during the day, Kozhukhova added.

“The shares of exporters that received support from the ruble fall to 97 per U.S. dollar for the first time since March 2022 meaning a higher foreign currency revenue,” Freedom Finance Global’s analyst Vladimir Chernov said.

Besides the ruble, oil company Tatneft grew on expectations of a dividend recommendation for January–June that the board of directors is to make on August 14, while oil major Rosneft was boosted by a report about an increase of the purchases of Russian ESPO oil blend by Chinese company Shaanxi Yanchang Group this year. Tatneft increased by 0.07% to 542.30 rubles and Rosneft by 0.78% to 526 rubles, Chernov said.

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

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Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
NCSP	+25.85	16.43	21.502
Sberbank	-0.41	263.03	12.716
Lukoil	-0.83	6052.50	6.763
Bank Saint Petersburg	+9.40	293.63	5.494
Gazprom	-0.54	172.53	4.312

(94.8076 rubles – U.S. $1)

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