Russian stocks decrease on US oil reserves growth

MOSCOW, Aug 31 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market fell on Wednesday at the closing of the trading session because investors were disappointed by a report of U.S. oil reserves’ growth, analysts said.

The MICEX dropped 0.71% to 1,971.59, and the RTS lost 0.88% to 950.25.

“The Russian stock market fell on Wednesday evening on negative news regarding an oil reserves increase in the U.S.,” Yegor Dakhtler, Veles Capital analyst, said.

The U.S. crude reserves grew above market expectations and beyond the scope envisaged by an API report, which was a negative factor for the Russian market, Vasily Tanurkov, deputy head of the stock market research department at Veles Capital, said.

But in general, the trading session was idealess and drowsy, Vitaly Manzhos, a senior analyst at Bank Obrazovanie, said.

RusHydro was among the market favorites after the news that Japan’s Mitsui can buy about a 5% treasury stake in the company, Manzhos said.

Surgutneftegas was also one of the leaders. “They (the shares of Surgutneftegas) are seeing some demand in spite of the current deteriorating mood on the oil market. This trend seems to be connected with a risk of a medium term ruble weakening as compared with the key foreign currencies after elections to the State Duma (lower chamber of the parliament) in September,” Manzhos said.

Mechel continues to rise on the back of a recently released solid financial performance data for January–June under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), the analyst said. The company closed at 68.70 rubles per share, up 6.43%.

Below are the MICEX’ five most active stocks on Wednesday:

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	+0.22	143.5	6.487
Gazprom	–0.47	134.95	4.072
Lukoil	–2.56	2,913	2.114
RusHydro	+4.16	0.7964	2.033
Surgutneftegas prefs	+2.23	32.74	1.400

(64.9072 rubles – U.S. $1)

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