Russian stocks decline amid negative foreign background

MOSCOW, Jul 19 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market edged down on Monday following a global trend with decreasing foreign stock indices and falling crude prices, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index dropped 2.04% to 3,693.42 and the RTS decreased 2.73% to 1,559.40.

“The Russian stock market opened lower on Monday amid a negative foreign background, then bounced back for a while to continue decreasing actively later, hitting 2-month lows,” BCS World of Investment expert Dmitry Babin said.

Global stock indices and oil prices were pressured during the day by the third wave of the pandemic, worsening metrics of the key economies, and the OPEC+’s decision to gradually increase crude production, he added.

Veles Broker analyst Yelena Kozhukhova said that gold producers Polymetal International was among the best performers rising 0.59% thanks to stable gold prices trading at around U.S. $1,815 per ounce.

The Moscow Exchange’s oil and gas index saw a deep fall of 3.6%, and preferred shares of oil company Surgutneftegas were among the biggest losers falling by a significant 15.69% in line with the dynamics and due to a dividend record date, she also said.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	-2.71	290.74	11.211
Gazprom	-1.67	274.97	10.789
Surgutneftegas, preferred	-15.69	38.665	5.866
Norilsk Nickel	-0.43	25140	5.780
Lukoil	-1.99	6235.5	5.529

(74.1656 rubles – U.S. $1)

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