Russian stocks continue decline amid falling oil, coronavirus

MOSCOW, Mar 12 (PRIME) -- Russian stocks continued to collapse on Thursday in line with global floors and oil prices amid the spread of coronavirus, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index fell 8.28% to 2,286.40 and the RTS dropped 11.03% to 966.40.

“The MOEX Russia Index and the RTS Index remained in a significant minus by the end of trading and updated multi-month lows along with global stock exchanges,” Veles Capital analyst Yelena Kozhukhova said.

Trading in the U.S. started with a decline of three main indices, which were losing around 6.5–8.2% by the end of the Russian session. The European floors also demonstrated negative dynamics. Brent and WTI oil quotations slightly slowed the pace of decline by the evening and were losing around 5–6%.  

Promsvyazbank chief analyst Bogdan Zvarich said, “The situation on energy markets, where the nearest futures for Brent oil was losing around 6%, retreating to the level of U.S. $33.6 per barrel, was putting pressure on our shares.”

“The sales were facilitated by the dynamics of Western floors. In Europe, by the evening, main indices lost within 9.5%, and in the U.S., after the first hour and a half of trading, Dow Jones and S&P500 fell by 7.2% and 6%, respectively,” the analyst said.

“The spread of coronavirus outside China continues to put pressure on quotations of risky assets. The lack of understanding of the final influence of the infection on the global economy does not give investors price targets in a wide range of assets, which does not allow buyers to become more active and does not lead to a long-term positive impact on the part of actions of leading governments and central banks,” Zvarich said.

Fertilizer producer Acron and oil pipeline monopoly Transneft’s preferred share were among growth leaders, adding 1.1% and 2.87%, respectively.

Metals and mining company Mechel was among outsiders losing 21.06%. Power producer Territorial Generating Company-1 (TGC-1) dropped 16.18% after reporting a 23% fall in 2019 net profit calculated under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	-9.57	175.91	35.647
Gazprom	-4.82	163.73	24.979
Lukoil	-8.08	4511.50	17.014
Norilsk Nickel	-8.59	18500.00	15.923
Rosneft	-11.64	277.50	8.362

(71.4720 rubles – U.S. $1)

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