Russian stocks close mixed prior to May Day, cbank meeting

MOSCOW, Apr 29 (PRIME) -- Russian stocks closed mixed on Wednesday, with investors showing low activity prior to May Day long holidays and the central bank’s upcoming board meeting, analysts said.

The MICEX fell 0.41% to 1,670.99 and the RTS increased 0.20% to 1,031.78.

“Today’s quite low activity on the stock market was to a great extent stipulated by upcoming May holidays,” Finam analyst Timur Nigmatullin said. There will be no trading on the Moscow Exchange on Friday.

Traders’ activity could increase on Thursday, as the central bank’s board of directors is scheduled to meet and could cut the key rate currently standing at 14%, the analyst said.

The market received support from Brent oil prices, which grew to U.S. $65.5 per barrel after U.S. oil reserves were reported to have increased only by 1.91 million barrels over the previous week compared with the expectations of 3.3 million barrels, Veles Capital analyst Alexander Kostyukov said.

Gas giant Gazprom closed 0.19% lower after the company reported an 86% net profit drop to 159.004 billion rubles in 2014, as calculated under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).

Hydropower giant RusHydro fell 0.68% after the firm said its net profit decreased 9.5% on the year to 8.74 billion rubles in January–March, as calculated under Russian Accounting Standards.

Power producer Enel Russia dropped 2.05%, as the company’s net profit fell 66% on the year to 589 million rubles in January–March under IFRS.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Promsvyazbank	0	0.0620	6.903
Sberbank	-0.66	75.20	6.590
Gazprom	-0.19	152.50	4.935
Lukoil	-1.32	2610.00	2.520
VTB	+1.53	0.0631	1.789

(52.3041 rubles – U.S. $1)

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