Russian stocks decrease amid new sanctions discussions

MOSCOW, May 18 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market fell on Thursday, as dividend news and a solid financial report by Sberbank for January–March did not support the buyers ahead of a possible announcement of new sanctions until the end of the week, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index decreased 0.06% to 2,632.91, and the RTS index fell 0.60% to 1,033.36.

"The Russian stock market started to grow moderately in the middle of the session supported by corporate news," Veles Capital’s analyst Yelena Kozhukhova said. "On Thursday by the end of the main session, the Russian stock market entered the red zone after not getting sufficient positive drivers at the corporate level," the analyst said.

According to Kozhukhova, the fact that the representatives for the G7 states would meet on Friday and may announce new sanctions against Russia until the end of the week limited the optimism on the national market.

Bashneft jumped after the board of directors recommended paying 199.89 rubles per common and preferred share in dividends for 2022, the analyst said.

Sberbank reported a 357.2 billion ruble net profit for January–March under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), and executives said that the bank would likely exceed the pre-crisis level of the net profit in 2023. According to Finam analyst Alexander Kovalyov, the report was a positive factor for the entire Russian market.

Surgutneftegas decreased after a dividend announcement, Mikhail Shulgin, head of Otkritie Investments’ global research department, said.

The common shares of Bank Saint Petersburg increased 2.14% after the bank posted a 14.6 billion ruble net profit in January–March under IFRS, an 8.6% corporate loan portfolio and a 3.5% retail loan portfolio rise since the year start, Kozhukhova said.

The depositary receipts of Etalon corrected downwards 2.38% after a significant growth over several previous sessions. Polyus and Polymetal sank 0.87% and 2.42% respectively on the back of a gold price fall, she said.

Kovalyov said that a smaller than expected decrease of Russia's gross domestic product (GDP) in January–March reported Wednesday also affected the market positively.   

The majority of the foreign markets started the Thursday's session with a growth after there was a progress in the U.S. negotiations on the debt threshold, he said.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	+0.61	231.96	11.904
VTB	-0.39	0.023255	11.279
Surgutneftegas	-12.71	31.93	9.252
Bashneft	+17.99	1515	6.936
Gazprom	-0.73	175.01	5.335

(80.7642 rubles – U.S. $1)

End