Russian stocks decline on investors’ local, global fears

MOSCOW, Mar 17 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market edged down on Wednesday pressured by strengthening sanctions threats and a worsening global environment, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index dropped 2.28% to 3,507.91 and the RTS decreased 3.81% to 1,493.66.

“The MOEX Russia and the RTS indices stayed considerably lower at the end of the trading session amid worsening of external environment and tougher U.S. rhetoric against Russia… The benchmarks aimed at the first targets of the short-term correction, 3,450 and 1,470, respectively,” Veles Broker analyst Yelena Kozhukhova said.

The U.S. Department of Commerce announced its intention to expand export restrictions against Russia from Thursday, and Russia’s Finance Ministry said that it was negotiating with the central bank reactions to possible introduction of sanctions against the state debt.

Kozhukhova added that moderate avoidance of risks was seen on the global market.

Otkritie Broker analyst Andrei Kochetkov said that global investors are worried about the upcoming Federal Reserve’s decision, and that the yield of the 10-year U.S. treasuries jumped to 1.66%.

The Brent oil prices falling to around U.S. $67.5 per barrel was another pressure factor for the domestic market, he added.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	-3.77	281.3	28.367
Norilsk Nickel	-0.48	22736	16.827
Gazprom	-2.7	227.7	12.966
Lukoil	-1.71	6334.5	9.374
Yandex	-3.22	-3.22	8.172

(72.9619 rubles – U.S. $1)

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