Russian stocks close mixed on unfavorable environ, ruble rise

MOSCOW, Aug 19 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market closed mixed on Friday in reaction to the unfavorable external background and the ruble growth, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index remained almost flat after edging up 0.04% to 2,195.16 and the RTS increased by 0.71% to 1,170.57.

“The Russian stock market showed mixed dynamics in reaction to the external background, corporate stories, and the ruble,” Veles Capital analyst Yelena Kozhukhova said.

The foreign stock floors fell as investors expect negative signals to come next week and fear the warnings of central banks that talk about fighting inflation, Kozhukhova said.

“The world’s markets switched to an active decrease this morning, and the oil prices also restarted their downward dynamics. Deepening concerns that inflation will remain high in large economies acts as a negative factor. It exerts pressure on economic growth on its own. Also, the central banks have to toughen their monetary policy fast to fight inflation, which only exacerbates the negative economic tendencies,” Dmitry Babin, stock market expert at BCS World of Investment, said.

Andrei Kochetkov, senior analyst at Otkritie Research, said that fertilizer producer PhosAgro gained 2.42% to 8,075 rubles in reaction to an impressive financial report. Its net profit almost tripled on the year in January–June, and the company’s board of directors recommended paying 80 rubles per share in final dividends for 2021 and dividends for January–June.

Kozhukhova also said that the global depositary receipts of TCS Group gained 8.87% to 2,700 rubles as the securities continued their recovery from their low since July 2020 prior to a release of financial results for April–June that the company is to publish next week.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	-0.87	125.20	2.340
PhosAgro	+2.42	8075.00	2.071
Magnit	-1.96	5245.00	2.068
Gazprom	-0.71	177.60	1.636
TCS Group’s GDRs	+8.87	2700.00	1.526

(59.9570 rubles – U.S. $1)

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