Russian stocks correct downwards on US–China talks pessimism

MOSCOW, May 17 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market declined on Friday, correcting after Thursday’s growth as investors were disappointed by how the U.S.–China trade negotiations unfold, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index fell 0.14% to 2,577.48, and the RTS Index decreased 0.53% to 1,254.68.

“On Friday, the Russian stock market traded in the negative territory after demonstrating an earlier resilience to an unstable external background,” Gennady Nikolayev, expert at the Academy of Management of Finance and Investment, said.

“Risk avoidance still predominates the global trade floors amid further escalation of the U.S.–China trade conflict after Beijing indicated it is not interested in continuation of trade negotiations due to the rigid position of Washington.”

Veles Capital Yelena Kozhukhova said that the trading session in Europe was moderately pessimistic with the Euro Stoxx 50 index falling by about 0.6%. The U.S. S&P futures decreased about 0.5% on the news about the trade conflict.

Nikolayev said that a positive attitude on the oil market prevented a further fall of Russian stocks. Brent erased morning losses and approached U.S. $73 per barrel.

Nikolayev said that Gazprom corrected downwards after dramatic growth on the dividend news.

According to Kozhukhova, Lukoil rose but was still lower than Thursday’s peak.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Gazprom	-1.88	198.89	9.894
Lukoil	+1.15	5260	7.355
Sberbank	-0.55	226.94	6.478
Surgutneftegas pref	+2.95	39.5	2.637
Tatneft	+0.52	679.4	2.330

(64.5598 rubles – U.S. $1)

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