Russian stocks decrease as US expands blacklist of entities, people

MOSCOW, Nov 2 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market lost on Thursday on the back of new U.S. sanctions affecting a wide range of organizations including multi-industry holding company Sistema, SPB Exchange and several banks, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index fell 0.29% to 3,197.22, and the RTS index declined 0.79% to 1,079.82.

"The dynamics on the Russian market changed to downward in the second half of the day. New U.S. sanctions against some Russian companies affected the situation," Yakov Yakovlev, senior portfolio manager at managing company Pervaya, said.

Earlier in the day, the market rose thanks to weakening of the ruble. "The Russian market continues yesterday's increase. Investors are studying the macroeconomic data published yesterday, the increase of metals and oil prices and weakening of the ruble favor growth of some issuers," Finam analyst Anna Builakova said.

The Economic Development Ministry said late on Wednesday after the closure of the main trading session that economic growth stood at 5.2% on the year in September after 5.2% in August and 5.1% in July. The increase in July–September also amounted to 5.2%, while unemployment remained at a record low in September, Builakova said.

Freedom Finance Global analyst Vladimir Chernov said that whereas the Brent oil blend rose 1.67% to U.S. $86.03 per barrel, the Urals traded at $70.87, and its discount against the benchmark jumped by 5 percentage points to 17.62%.

SPB Exchange dove 19.15% due to the U.S. restrictions, analysts said.

VK increased 0.48% supported by the news that the number of its users equaled the audience of YouTube in Russia in January–September, Chernov said.

PIK Group's quotations declined 1.5% after the State Duma, parliament's lower chamber, suggested toughening mortgage conditions, including raising the initial payment to 25% from 20%.

It also said that the beneficial mortgage program can be prolonged only in the regions with low demand after July 1, while PIK Group operates in Moscow and the Moscow Region, the analyst said.

Finance Analyst Natalya Milchakova said that an initial public offering of clothes retailer Henderson was in the focus of investors' attention. The company floated about 14% of capital at 675 rubles per share.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Mechel	+2.38	276.92	7.027
Sberbank	-0.43	268.52	6.107
Gazprom	-0.95	168.47	3.854
Norilsk Nickel	+0.52	17896	3.384
Sistema	-2.1	16575	2.934

(93.2801 rubles – U.S. $1)

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