Russian stocks drop as investors await US sanctions, Magnit dives

MOSCOW, Jan 26 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market fell on Friday as investors decided to take profit as a new set of U.S. sanctions against Russia was about to be released, retailer Magnit set a record low since March 2013 on corporate news, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index fell 1.07% to 2,295.26 and the RTS decreased 1.87% to 1,286.70.

“Investors have decided to take profit after a three-week rise, besides a new package of anti-Russian sanctions is due,” Investment company Finam analyst Vasily Oleinik said.

Otkritie Broker analyst Andrei Kochetkov said that a change of the outlook for Russian ratings to positive from stable by Moody’s was a positive factor for the market.

Information that the U.S. ambassador requested several meetings with representatives of the Russian authorities supported Russian assets as well, Kochetkov said. “It is hard to tell now the future content of negotiations, whether this is an attempt to alleviate political damage from future restrictions or the partner across the ocean wants some favors by Russia,” he said.

Kochetkov said that Magnit’s report turned out to be a disappointment for investors as the profit fell 41.7% in October–December under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). The shares of the company dove in the evening as CFO Khachatur Pombukhchan said that the company has no plans to pay dividends in 2018, analysts said.

The rest of retailers were also falling but erased the losses in the middle of the trading session, the analyst said.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Magnit	-10.23	5539	9.088
Sberbank	-1.45	247	8.754
Gazprom	-1.74	147.19	5.199
Lukoil	-0.1	3821	2.396
Rosneft	+0.09	351.8	2.069

(55.9288 rubles – U.S. $1)

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