Russian stocks close mixed on ruble rise, oil drop, lack of news

MOSCOW, May 18 (PRIME) -- Russian stocks closed mixed on Monday on slight correction of oil prices and strengthening of the ruble amid a geopolitical lull and lack of news, analysts said.

The MICEX fell 0.76% to 1,678.55 and the RTS edged up 0.07% to 1,075.47

“The beginning of the week on the Russian stock market was very featureless. Most of the time Russian indices were trading flat that corresponded to the dynamics of European indices. At the last moment, the ruble-denominated MICEX quite sagged, that may be caused both by insignificant correction of oil (prices) and by an unexpected ruble strengthening of the ruble,” Alexander Kostyukov, an analyst at Veles Capital, said.

The ruble rebound to below 49.25 against the U.S. dollar on Monday cannot be explained by traditional factors, as the Brent oil price decreased to below $66.5 per barrel by the end of the trading session on the Moscow Exchange and the central bank carries out regular interventions by purchasing foreign currency for its reserves, Sergei Filchenkov, an analyst at Metropol.

The start of the tax period and a geopolitical lull provided some support to the national currency, Natalia Samoilova, head of Golden Hills-Kapital’s analytical department, said.

On Tuesday, the dynamics is unlikely to change significantly, and the market will keep a wary eye on the ruble rate amid thin corporate news, Anton Fomin, analyst at InstaForex, said.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	+0.41	75.36	6.901
VTB	+3.76	0.07100	3.004
Gazprom	-0.71	151.90	2.711
Lukoil	-1.73	2550.00	1.725
Norilsk Nickel	-0.39	10248.00	1.402

(50.0115 rubles – U.S. $1)

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