Russian stocks decline on deterioration of foreign background

MOSCOW, Jul 30 (PRIME) -- Russian stocks decreased on Thursday dragged by the deterioration of the foreign background and falling oil prices, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index fell by 1.23% to 2,882.63 and the RTS decreased by 2.66% to 1,232.35.

“On Thursday, the Russian stock market went into a correctional decline. A sharp deterioration of the external environment contributed to the activation of sales. Thus, negative sentiments in Russian securities were supported by the dynamics of the energy market, where the nearest futures for Brent crude lost about 3%, retreating below U.S. $42.5 per barrel,” Promsvyazbank chief analyst Bogdan Zvarich said.

“The situation on the Western stock exchanges also contributed to the decline in our market. In Europe, the main indices were losing up to 4% by the evening, and in the U.S., after the first hours of trading, the Dow Jones and S&P500 declined 1.5% and 1.2%, respectively,” he added.

Retailer Lenta and gold producer Polyus were among outsiders, losing 3.03% and 2.17%, respectively.

Power producer Territorial Generating Company-2’s (TGC-2) shares jumped 8.36% on no fundamental reasons.

Oil and gas pipe producer TMK and fertilizer maker Acron were also among growth leaders, adding 1.68% and 1.22%, respectively.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	-1.07	216.84	10.463
Gazprom	-1.73	181.50	5.770
Lukoil	-2.14	5073.50	5.556
Norilsk Nickel	-1.38	19534.00	4.958
Polyus	-2.17	16288.00	3.458

(72.2348 rubles – U.S. $1)

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