Russian stocks close mixed on ruble rise against weak Brent price

MOSCOW, Mar 26 (PRIME) -- Russian stocks closed mixed on Wednesday as investors closed positions fearing uncertainty caused by the rising ruble and a low oil price, while the increase of the RTS was technically supported by the ruble strengthening, analysts said.

The MICEX fell 0.19% to 1,615.50 and the RTS increased 0.20% to 882.07.

“Market players mainly followed the ruble and Brent price dynamics,” Sofya Kirsanova, analyst at Raiffeisen Capital, said, adding that the usual link between the oil price and the ruble rate was broken on Wednesday, but the market did not believe that the strengthening of the national currency was long-term.

Another factor, which depressed the market, was the news that a capital amnesty bill, to be adopted by June 1, will be in force until the end of 2015 only which is not enough to slow down capital outflow from Russia significantly, Andrei Dirgin, head of the analytical department of Alfa-Forex said.

The slight increase of the RTS was secured by the ruble strengthening, Vitaly Manzhos, analyst at Nord-Capital, said.

The Russian stock market is likely to be calm on Thursday and will mainly depend on the oil market dynamics, Dirgin said.

Russian retailer M.Video rose 5.74% to 178.7 rubles in anticipation of financial results to be published on Thursday, Kirsanova said, adding that company’s shares fell sharply to about 75 rubles from over 200 rubles in December and still have a growth potential.

NLMK fell 2.92% to 73.76 rubles and Severstal fell 0.54% to 658.15 rubles on news that the E.U. introduces antidumping duties on flat-rolled products of stainless steel from China and Taiwan, as investors feared that the same measure may hit Russian export, she said.

Below are the MICEX’ five most active stocks on Wednesday:

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	-1.22	64.80	6.368
Gazprom	-1.64	134.90	3.988
Likoil	-0.46	2697.30	3.267
Norilsk Nickel	+1.65	10500.00	1.501
Magnit	+1.87	11000.00	1.137

(58.7710 rubles – U.S. $1)

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