Russian stocks edge down discouraged by mixed foreign background

MOSCOW, Feb 14 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market consolidated in the negative territory during the day on Friday and closed lower thanks to a mixed global environment, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index fell 0.42% to 3,096.88 and the RTS sagged 0.56% to 1,534.89.

“The market has generally steadied. Sellers dominated slightly… although the external background remained calm. News about the COVID-19 coronavirus don’t influence market participants’ sentiments much anymore,” Otkritie Broker analyst Andrei Kochetkov said.

Blue chips were mainly in the negative territory, but their losses were not significant, he added.

Senior analyst at Promsvyazbank Bogdan Zvarich said that the foreign background looked mixed with the Brent oil price adding more than 1.5% to above U.S. $54 per barrel and the European bourses losing up to 0.4%.

Multi-industry holding Sistema and grocery retailer Magnit were among the outsiders falling 2.06% and 2.16%, respectively.

Veles Broker analyst Yelena Kozhukhova said that IT giant Yandex slid 2.47% as the stock was pressured by a 75% decline of its 2019 net profit under US GAAP.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Gazprom	-0.45	232.5	7.996
Sberbank	-0.84	251.75	7.579
Yandex	-2.47	3011	6.019
Norilsk Nickel	+0.09	21530	3.242
Lukoil	-0.3	6451	3.130

(63.6016 rubles – U.S. $1)

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