Russian stocks close slightly lower on worsening global mood

MOSCOW, Aug 10 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market spent the day in the positive territory, but closed slightly lower on Monday due to a worsening global environment, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index fell 0.39% to 2,960.78 and the RTS eased 0.27% to 1,267.96.

“The MOEX Russia and the RTS indices finished the day slightly lower failing to receive a sufficient support from the external background… The global market sentiment worsened at the beginning of the week despite (U.S. President Donald) Trump’s attempts to support the U.S. economy amid a lack of compromise in Congress,” Veles Broker analyst Yelena Kozhukhova said.

The main U.S. benchmarks were trading mixed in the first hours of the session, and the European markets were seen neutral, she added.

Gold mining holding Seligdar and power producer Territorial Generating Company-2 (TGC-2) were among the best performers rising 5.44% and 4.78%, respectively, without fundamental reasons, Kozhukhova also said.

Otkritie Broker analyst Andrei Kochetkov said that investors’ activity on the Russian stock market is very low due to the vacation season.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	-1.18	224.6	9.130
Gazprom	-0.21	186.83	4.285
Norilsk Nickel	+0.17	20472	4.049
Polyus	-1.03	17881	4.044
Lukoil	+0.04	5090	3.127

(73.6376 rubles – U.S. $1)

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