Russian stocks decrease dragged by global disappointment

MOSCOW, May 6 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market gapped down in the morning on Monday in light of global investor pessimism over the U.S.–China trade negotiations, but reversed later in the day to recoup most of the losses thanks to crude strengthening, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index dropped 0.05% to 2,579.75 and the RTS slid 0.22% to 1,245.59.

“The Russian stock market started the second May week with a fall due to a negative external background. Sales were mainly triggered with general worsening of investors’ sentiment and view of risky assets due to concerns over the possibility of a trade deal between the U.S. and China,” senior analyst at Promsvyazbank Bogdan Zvarich said.

The domestic market was additionally discouraged by the Brent oil price seen below U.S. $70 per barrel in the morning, but later in the day the crude price managed to consolidate above the mark so the key Russian benchmarks rebounded to win back most of the losses.

National flagship air carrier Aeroflot was among the biggest losers falling 1.82% to 94.94 rubles after its SSJ100 aircraft had crashed on May 5 killing 41 people.

Otkritie Broker analyst Andrei Kochetkov said that grocery retailers X5 Retail Group and Magnit lost 1.48% to 1,970 rubles and 0.96% to 3,758.5 rubles, respectively, on the news that Russia’s Services Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) had fallen to 52.6 in April from 54.4 in March

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	+0.12	232.8	11.128
Gazprom	-0.52	165.45	2.559
Lukoil	+0.46	5478	2.391
Norilsk Nickel	+1.14	14400	1.205
Moscow Exchange	+1.46	93.17	999

(64.6314 rubles – U.S. $1)

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