Russian stocks ease on dividend cut-offs, profit taking

MOSCOW, Jun 2 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market edged down on Friday because of the dividend cut-off in the shares of oil major Lukoil and profit taking in some other securities, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index fell 0.08% to 2,719.48 and the RTS decreased 0.98% to 1,051.53.

“The mood of the foreign stock floors was optimistic on Friday. It looks like the U.S. debt problem was solved successfully by an increase of the debt threshold and by its legal approval. Investors should now focus on the prospects of interest rates. The MOEX Russia Index and the RTS Index showed a moderate contraction because of Lukoil’s dividend cut-off and because of profit taking in the shares of some other companies,” Veles Capital’s Yelena Kozhukhova said.

Otkritie Broker’s leading analyst for global research Andrei Kochetkov said that the shares contracted by the amount that is smaller than the proposed dividends meaning the market probably expects the dividend gap to close quickly. The company the plunged by 5.67% to 5,361.50 rubles.

“Even though the corporate news flow remains favorable, the recent bear activity is connected to the upcoming period of record dates for the company’s dividends,” Natalya Milchakova, leading analyst of Freedom Finance Global, said.

The shares of shipping company Sovcomflot gained 10.86% to 93.23 rubles in reaction to the latest financial report, Milchakova said.

Kochetkov also said that the ordinary shares of metals and mining group Mechel grew by 0.59% to 173 rubles in spite of the board of directors’ recommendation to pay no dividends for 2022 because investors grew used to such recommendations, he said.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Lukoil	-5.67	5361.50	16.702
Gazprom	+5.39	0.02258	12.270
Sberbank	+1.30	244.81	9.952
Sovcomflot	+10.86	93.23	8.563
MTS	+2.10	324.00	2.710

(80.9657 rubles – U.S. $1)

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