Russian stocks close mixed on ruble rate’s climb

MOSCOW, May 23 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market closed mixed on Monday, as a strong growth of the ruble’s exchange rate outweighed all other drivers, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index fell 3.01% to 2,301.85 and the RTS increased 1.12% to 1,253.69.

“The national market started the day in a positive way, but later in the day, a strong ruble once again changed the direction of the ruble-denominated MOEX Russia Index. The external background has little impact on the Russian shares after the E.U. acknowledged it had reached the limit of sanctions,” Otkritie Research’s leading analyst Andrei Kochetkov said.

The recommendation of the board of directors of electronic goods retailer M.Video to pay no dividends for 2021 was a notable piece of corporate news. It is possible that the retailer plans to save some capital in case the import supplies rise, Kochetkov said. The company’s shares shrank by 6.13% to 205.20 rubles.

Veles Capital’s analyst Yelena Kozhukhova said that the dynamics of the ruble also resulted in the U.S. dollar–denominated RTS Index outperforming the MOEX Russia Index.

“A bearish mood has prevailed once again on the Russian stock market today on the background of a rapid growth of the national currency, therefore the sales mainly hurt the commodity export companies that receive foreign currency revenue. The statement of the German economy minister that the E.U. was ready to impose the oil embargo without Hungary, if the European Commission offers to do this, added some tension,” Yegor Zhilnikov, senior analyst at Promsvyazbank, said.

The ruble’s strengthening also exerted pressure on the metals industry, and it was exacerbated by the fall of the prices for raw metals, he said. Norilsk Nickel lost 4.35% to 19,800 rubles, Novolipetsk Steel (NLMK) decreased by 2.94% to 151.36 rubles, Severstal fell by 5.45% to 1,051 rubles.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Gazprom	0.00	263.00	8.169
Sberbank	-2.24	119.46	4.588
Norilsk Nickel	-4.35	19800.00	1.493
Lukoil	-5.35	4050.00	1.382
Rosneft	-4.48	367.05	0.963

(58.8862 rubles – U.S. $1)

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