Russian stocks drop on mixed foreign background, falling oil

MOSCOW, Jul 15 (PRIME) -- Russian stocks decreased on Monday amid a contradictory foreign background, falling oil prices, and a stronger ruble, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index fell 0.76% to 2,756.44 and the RTS decreased 0.10% to 1,386.52.

“On Monday, a correctional decline continued on the Russian stock market amid a contradictory external background. The situation on the energy market, where the nearest futures for Brent crude lose within a quarter of a percent, could contribute to sales in our securities,” Promsvyazbank chief analyst Bogdan Zvarich said.

“At the same time, the dynamics of the Western stock floors supported the bulls. And if in the U.S. there was a consolidation at the closing levels of last week during the first hours of trading, in Europe the main indices were adding within 0.6% by the evening,” he added.

Steelmaker Novolipetsk Steel (NLMK) was among growth leaders, rising by 1.43%, despite reporting that its steel production fell by 5% on the quarter to 3.992 million tonnes in April–June and by 6% on the year to 8.175 million tonnes in January–June.

Shares of the Federal Grid Company of Unified Energy Systems (FGC UES) were among outsiders, falling by 10.75%, as they started trading ex-dividend, Zvarich said.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	-0.74	235.27	10.666
Gazprom	-2.12	240.30	8.762
Lukoil	-1.61	5178.50	3.475
VTB	-0.02	0.04399	1.917
Surgutneftegas pref	-1.22	42.04	1.612

(63.0204 rubles – U.S. $1)

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