Russian stocks edge down on lack of drivers for growth

MOSCOW, Dec 21 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market spent the day in the negative territory as well as closed lower on Thursday amid a lack of drivers for growth, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index dropped 1% to 3,073.57 and the RTS Index decreased 2.16% to 1,051.87.

“The Russian stock market stayed in the negative territory at the end of the trading session on a lack of significant internal or external drivers for growth, but bounced back from the day’s lowest,” Veles Broker analyst Yelena Kozhukhova said.

She added that the MOEX Russia and the RTS indices closed the day below the resistance lines of 3,100 and 1,090, respectively, which demonstrates that long positions should be increased very carefully as there are no signals for any short-term rise.

Gold producer Polymetal International was among the best performers rising by over 6% without evident fundamental reasons. The gold prices are consolidating at around U.S. $2,050 per troy ounce, Kozhukhova said.

Shipping company Sovcomflot and oil producer Gazprom Neft performed well as they remain among the best dividend payers this season with the record dates planned for the end of December and the beginning of January.

Gold producer Seligdar increased on the news its gold productions will grow to over 8 tonnes in the entire 2023.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	-0.3	265.8	8.084
Lukoil	-0.33	6712.5	6.644
Novatek	-3.02	1485	4.255
Gazprom	-1.25	161.52	4.003
Mechel	+3.17	299.48	3.957

(90.4056 rubles – U.S. $1)

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