Russian stocks edge down following oil price dynamics

MOSCOW, Oct 7 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market demonstrated negative dynamics on Wednesday as it was pressured by a slide in oil prices and discouraging corporate news, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index fell 1.74% to 2,842.58 and the RTS dropped 2.11% to 1,143.95.

“The Russian stock market fell thanks to a mixed foreign background on Wednesday. The major pressure factor was negative dynamics of the energy market with the nearest Brent oil futures falling by over 2% to U.S. $41.7 per barrel,” senior analyst at Promsvyazbank Bogdan Zvarich said.

At the same time, the dynamics of Western bourses restrained sales in Russian stocks, he added. European benchmarks closed mixed, and the core U.S. indices Dow Jones and S&P500 grew 1.4–1.6% in the first hours of trading.

Gazprom was among the biggest losers falling 2.08% on the news it had been fined by a Polish antimonopoly regulator.

Veles Broker analyst Yelena Kozhukhova said that precious metals producers Polyus and Polymetal International traded in the positive territory despite the gold price’s consolidation below $1,900 per ounce.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	-0.32	210.5	12.590
Gazprom	-2.08	167.78	10.684
Sovcomflot	0	100.5	10.558
Lukoil	-1.46	4453.5	4.996
Norilsk Nickel	-1.01	18592	4.687

(78.5119 rubles – U.S. $1)

End