Russian stocks edge down due to Europe’s political risks, falling oil

MOSCOW, Oct 19 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market edged down on Thursday in line with the European stock exchanges due to rising geopolitical risks in Spain and oil prices’ downward correction, analysts said.

The MICEX dropped 1.03% to 2,072.73 and the RTS went down 0.80% to 1,138.64.

“The Russian stock indices moved to the negative territory on risk aversion caused by the situation in Spain. The state’s government has triggered Article 155 (of the Constitution) to suspend Catalan autonomy,” InstaForex analyst Igor Kovalyov said.

The domestic stock market was also pressured by a crude prices decline despite the U.S. Department of Energy’s statistics marking a fall both in oil stocks and output. Investors seem to believe that the U.S. oil production will recover in a week or two, Raiffeisen Capital analyst Sofya Kirsanova, said.

She added that investors may be wary ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump’s appointment of a new Federal Reserve System chairman, because the move will influence the country’s monetary policy and global investors’ risk appetite much.

Metal producers were among the loss leaders. Aluminum giant UC RUSAL lost 4.62% to 38.18 rubles, Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works (MMK) slid 2.11% to 44.44 rubles and mining and metallurgic company Norilsk Nickel fell 2.13% to 10,527 rubles.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	-1.59%	192.2	7.802
Norilsk Nickel	-2.13%	10527	2.928
Gazprom	-0.95%	125.5	2.841
Lukoil	-0.86%	2985	1.253
Moscow Exchange	-0.81%	119.5	1.250

(57.2721 rubles – U.S. $1)

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