Russian stocks drop on oil price fall, Gazprom's dividend move

MOSCOW, May 4 (PRIME) -- Russian stocks declined on Wednesday as they were pressured by a fall in oil prices, weaker than expected macroeconomic data from China and the U.S., and gas giant Gazprom’s request for exemption from a government ruling on higher dividends, analysts said.

The MICEX fell 1.41% to 1,925.58 and the RTS decreased 4.05% to 912.58.

The Russian market unsurprisingly fell because oil prices decreased at the beginning of this week, Bank Obrazovanie Senior Analyst Vitaly Manzhos said. “Oil futures particularly depressed the Russian currency and the RTS,” he said.

The ruble, which depreciated to 66.5 against the U.S. dollar by the closing bell, technically sped up the fall of the dollar-denominated RTS index.

The Russian market was put under additional pressure by reports on lower than expected figures of manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) of China and the U.S., which raised investor concerns over prospects of the global economy’s growth, Veles Capital’s analyst Alexander Kostyukov said.

Oil and metals stocks showed downward dynamics following the news, analysts said. Metals giant Norilsk Nickel fell 3.28% and Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works (MMK) dropped 4.57%.

Gazprom also contributed to a fall of domestic stocks as the company asked the government to exempt it from paying half of the net profit under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in dividends for 2015, Kostyukov said, referring to a statement by Bloomberg.

Top lender Sberbank was depressed by a weak ruble and fell 2.1%, Manzhos said.

Far Eastern Shipping Company (FESCO) decreased 4.63% after it announced plans to pay no coupons on Eurobonds of two issues, Manzhos said.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Gazprom	-3.60	162.40	11.186
Sberbank	-2.10	120.96	10.235
Norilsk Nickel	-3.28	9100.00	2.763
Lukoil	-1.94	2698.50	2.554
VTB	+0.07	0.0701	2.526

(64.3334 rubles – U.S. $1)

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