Russian stocks edge down on negative global background

MOSCOW, Sep 6 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market decreased on Thursday amid a negative global environment with trade negotiations between the U.S. and China in a deadlock and anxiety on emerging markets, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index eased 0.03% to 2,320.65 and the RTS fell 1.36% to 1,054.36.

“The MOEX Russia Index… was pressured by a lack of results in trade negotiations between the U.S. and China, and growing trade deficit between the U.S. and the E.U.,” Veles Capital said.

Analyst at Freedom Finance Anastasia Sosnova said that the U.S. dollar-denominated RTS index fell due to disturbance on emerging markets and the absence of global positive triggers.

Veles Capital said that the European stock exchanges were mixed and the U.S. benchmarks opened slightly lower.

Independent gas producer Novatek was among the best performers backed by positive expectations of the launch of new stages of its Yamal LNG (liquefied natural gas) facility. The stock rose 4.19% to 1,167 rubles.

Otkritie Broker analyst Andrei Kochetkov said that gold producer Polyus grew 1.68% to 4,361 rubles as Russia’s gold reserves continue to increase amid a trend to withdraw from international settlements in U.S. dollars.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	-1.94	175	8.793
Gazprom	0	147.06	3.272
Novatek	+4.19	1167	2.802
Lukoil	-0.57	4610.5	2.691
ALROSA	+1.07	101	1.525

(68.4628 rubles – U.S. $1)

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