Russian stocks drop on sanctions uncertainty, falling oil prices

MOSCOW, Aug 23 (PRIME) -- Russian stocks decreased on Thursday amid sanctions uncertainty, mixed dynamics on foreign floors, and falling oil prices, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index fell 1.61% to 2,260.04 and the RTS decreased 2.00% to 1,043.99.

“The MOEX Russia Index and the RTS index remained in minus by the end of trading on Thursday, having accelerated the decline by the end of the session,” Veles Broker analyst Yelena Kozhukhova said.

“Russian indices are finishing the session on a pessimistic note, but sales still can be called moderate. Uncertainty over sanctions remains, and in September, an issue on the most painful topics for the Russian market – restrictions on the purchase of state debt and operations of state banks – should be solved. There is no panic on the stock exchanges, and corrective growth cannot be ruled out in the next few days, but there are also not many reasons for optimism,” she said.

The ruble depreciated against the dollar and the euro despite growth attempts during the day.

Trading in the U.S. opened with mixed dynamics of main indices, and neutral moods were seen on European floors. Oil quotations were losing less than 0.5% by the end of trading after a major upward leap earlier.

Fertilizer producer PhosAgro was among growth leaders, adding 2.2%, as its net profit doubled on the year to 2.955 billion rubles in April–June, as calculated under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).

National top lender Sberbank, whose IFRS net profit rose 21.4% on the year to 427.4 billion rubles in January–June, lost 4.84% after U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen said a bill on new U.S. sanctions will affect Russian banks.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	-4.84	178.71	27.066
Gazprom	-1.85	141.50	3.067
Lukoil	-1.39	4450.00	2.942
Sberbank pref	-3.37	156.66	1.704
Norilsk Nickel	-1.12	10950.00	1.645

(67.6163 rubles – U.S. $1)

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