Russian stocks correct downwards on lack of foreign interest

MOSCOW, Mar 7 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market corrected downwards on Thursday after Wednesday’s growth, as investors are worried about the uncertainty of the U.S.–China trade deal and are not interested in risky assets, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index fell 0.70% to 2,476.64, and the RTS Index decreased 1.00% to 1,179.58.

“The external background is negative again. The markets have grown tired of waiting for the details of the U.S.–China trade agreement. Statistics from various regions is increasingly signaling a clear deterioration of the global economy situation. The Russian market has its own uncertainty due to the sanctions but it is hard to ignore the external economic factor as well,” Andrei Kochetkov, Otkritie Broker’s analyst, said.

Vasily Oleinik, expert at investment company Finam, said that the Asian markets fell at the start of the day after Huawei sued the U.S. government for allegations of the use of U.S. surveillance technologies and for prohibition to federal authorities to purchase Huawei equipment. This conflict can affect a future U.S.–China trade deal negatively.

Oleinik also said that the European markets were weak.

“The Russian indices have been drifting on virtually the same plane for two months, and the reason for this is clear, there is no foreign money. Many Russian companies announce record dividends to be paid this year but there is much time before the record dates left, and we might see better prices,” he said.

Sofya Kirsanova, analyst at managing company Raiffeisen Capital, said that the trading volume was lower than usual due to the approach of the long International Women’s Day holiday.

The analyst said that Aeroflot grew 1.59%, correcting after a decrease triggered by a weak financial report for 2018 under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).

ALROSA’s shares grew 0.21% as analysts improved their outlook, she said.

Moscow Exchange added 0.37% after releasing a strong financial report for 2018 and after announcing 7.7 ruble per share dividends.

RUSAL was the market outsider after releasing weak financials for 2018.

Raspadskaya fell 2.54% on the news about the placement of additionally issued shares in favor of the key shareholder Evraz, according to Kirsanova.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	-0.51	203.95	9.440
Lukoil	-0.63	5677	3.532
Norilsk Nickel	0	14442	3.492
Gazprom	-1.49	151.9	3.003
RUSAL	-3.08	31.76	1.076

(65.8430 rubles – U.S. $1)

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