Russian stocks close mixed on worsening foreign background

MOSCOW, Jul 6 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market hit new highs at the beginning of the day on Tuesday, but then reserved to close mixed amid a worsening foreign background, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index grew 0.04% to 3,884.30 and the RTS decreased 1.18% to 1,644.99.

“The MOEX Russian and the RTS indices hit new highs of 3,915 and 1,682, and then reversed following worsening sentiments on foreign bourses,” Veles Broker analyst Yelena Kozhukhova said.

Optimism faded out on the global stock exchanges, because the market is overbought, especially, U.S. floors and crude, so Russian shares lacked drivers for upward growth, she added.

Kozhukhova said that preferred shares of Surgutneftegas rose 0.42% thanks to a 1% weakening of the ruble against the U.S. dollar.

TCS Group, which includes Tinkoff Bank, made an effort to reach the psychologically important milestone of 7,000 rubles per share, and is interesting for investors following news that the group started testing private banking services.

Precious metals producer Polymetal International grew 1.13%, supported by advancing gold prices.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Gazprom	+1.55	295.6	22.181
Rosneft	+1.32	575	11.500
Lukoil	+0.18	6857.5	10.250
Sberbank	-1.27	303.1	9.435
Norilsk Nickel	-1.6	24524	5.646

(73.3540 rubles – U.S. $1)

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