Russian stocks correct downwards as investors lose risk appetite

MOSCOW, May 15 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market edged down on Tuesday as part of correction after a considerable growth last week as investors avoid risks, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index fell 0.87% to 2,337.03 and the RTS slid 1.98% to 1,178.76.

“The Russian stock market was in the negative territory due to a slightly discouraging external background. Despite the fact that crude is above U.S. $79 per barrel, investors prefer to avoid risks as the yield of 10-year U.S. treasuries is again at around 3%,” Otkritie Broker analyst Andrei Kochetkov said.

Vitaly Manzhos, senior risk manager at investment company Nord Capital, said that the market was correcting down from near its all-time record reached last week. The correction is marginal due to the support of crude futures seen at their 3.5-year record highs.

Forex Club analyst Ivan Marchena said that national flagship carrier Aeroflot added 1.36% to 138 rubles after its board of directors suggested paying 50% of the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) net profit for 2017 in dividends for the period.

Power producer Quadra Power Generation surged 2.70% to 0.003615 rubles thanks to a sound Russian Accounting Standards (RAS) financial report marking a 40% rise in the net profit.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	-2.7%	231.39	12.377
Gazprom	-1.18%	149.2	4.338
Lukoil	-0.35%	4392	3.778
Magnit	+1.2%	5045	2.274
Norilsk Nickel	+1.27%	10915	2.241

(61.7684 rubles – U.S. $1)

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