Russian stocks decrease discouraged by global negativity

MOSCOW, May 22 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market edged down on Friday as it was pressured by an ultimately negative foreign background, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index fell 0.34% to 2,709.38 and the RTS contracted 1.48% to 1,188.47.

“A worsening external background continued to affect the domestic market. China abandoned its gross domestic product (GDP) goal for this year. The U.S. is preparing bills, which may trigger another wave of its tensions with Beijing,” Otkritie Broker analyst Andrei Kochetkov said.

“Crude felt uncertain and lost part of its gains obtained in the previous six sessions. The Economic Development Ministry sees Russia’s GPD falling over 9% in April–June, and the central bank projects an 8% fall,” he added.

Natural resources miners including metals giant Norilsk Nickel, independent gas producer Novatek and oil company Bashneft were again among the worst performing stocks, Kochetkov also said, adding that banks were additionally pressured by negative dividends expectations.

Veles Broker analyst Yelena Kozhukhova said that power producer Inter RAO outperformed the market adding 2.44% on a sound financial report for January–March demonstrating an 11.1% rise in the net profit.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	-1.82	188.9	10.819
Lukoil	+0.59	5317	8.405
Gazprom	-0.2	194.35	8.230
Norilsk Nickel	-2.37	22002	7.569
Rosneft	-0.68	364.5	5.001

(70.9240 rubles – U.S. $1)

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