Russian stocks drop as market waits for another key rate hike

MOSCOW, Sep 14 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market continued to decrease on Thursday in anticipation of another key rate hike by the central bank and further weakening of the ruble, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index fell by 0.28% to 3,139.49 and the RTS decreased by 1.2% to 1,018.31.

“The Russian markets continued to fall… The RTS index decreased on further weakening of the national currency. The Russian stock market again demonstrated high volatility, which is linked to the upcoming meeting of the central bank,” managing company Pervaya analyst Sofya Kirsanova said.

“The key rate is expected to be raised, but the increment is the main issue… The basic scenario envisages a rise by 100–150 basis points to 13–13.5%, but a more dynamic hike also cannot be ruled out,” she added.

The market still has a growth potential thanks to future payments of interim dividends and rising crude prices, Kirsanova also said.

Otkritie Research analyst Andrei Kochetkov said that the most powerful movements were seen in the second and third-tier shares, but had no logic. Kochetkov attributed the dynamics to the influence of Telegram channels and their investment ideas.

A significant fall of 24.26% in rail car producer United Wagon Company (UWC) was however again connected to the recently approved issue of 12.5 billion rubles of new shares that is to dilute the current shares 100-fold, he added.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Lukoil	-1.09	6538	12.322
Sberbank	+0.85	260.38	10.509
UWC	-24.26	95.2	9.461
Transneft, prefs	-1.02	146250	9.241
Gazprom	-0.14	174.7	5.632

(96.1609 rubles – U.S. $1)

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