Russian stocks ease as investors take profit in some shares

MOSCOW, Mar 10 (PRIME) – The Russian stocks eased on Wednesday as investors took profit in some shares, while the external background provided no noticeable support, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index fell 0.45% to 3,463.06 and the RTS decreased 0.15% to 1,479.57.

“The MOEX Russia Index and the RTS Index did not demonstrate significant changes on Wednesday after trying to grow at the beginning of the session. The indicators earlier tried to climb to this year’s peaks of 3,520 and 1,508, respectively, and stopped only several points short. The mid-term buyers continue to support the upward dynamics, but some short-term players take profit,” Yelena Kozhukhova, analyst at Veles Capital, said.

Andrei Kochetkov, lead analyst for global research at Otkritie Broker, said that the background did not provide any support for the Russian market during the day.

“The European indices fluctuated, the futures for the U.S. stock indices also showed lackluster dynamics. The oil price managed to switch into the green zone after falling in the morning, but that was it,” Kochetkov said.

Yevgeny Mironyuk, analyst at Freedom Finance, said that the Asian stock floors were also of no help to the Russian market as they showed mixed dynamics. “The session in China ended with contraction as investors reacted to the mixed inflation data and to signs of toughening of the monetary policy,” he said.

Kozhukhova also said that oil and gas pipe producer TMK outperformed the market and gained 3.14% to 62.44 rubles on acquisition of 86.54% in Chelyabinsk Pipe Plant.

Shares of gold producer Polyus fell by 3.15% to 14,056.50 rubles in spite of the attempts of gold prices to climb above U.S. $1,700 per ounce, as the mid-term prospects of the price worsened due to the high yields on the treasuries and low risk appetite, she said.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	-1.45	281.66	14.463
Norilsk Nickel	+0.23	23006.00	13.081
Gazprom	-0.04	232.00	12.231
Lukoil	-3.01	6115.00	9.646
Rosneft	-1.77	560.50	4.948

(74.2640 rubles – U.S. $1)

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