Russian stocks fall amid stronger ruble, despite rising oil

MOSCOW, May 11 (PRIME) -- Russian stocks decreased on Thursday despite growing oil prices, with MICEX index being pressured by the ruble’s strengthening, analysts said.

The MICEX fell 1.27% to 2,002.54 and the RTS decreased 0.52% to 1,105.83.

“The Russian stock market did not manage to continue yesterday’s growth and switched to the negative zone despite further growth of oil prices and combative mood of foreign floors,” InstaForex analyst Igor Kovalyov said.

“The MICEX index is feeling the pressure of growing national currency, but is maintaining above 2,000 points, keeping a potential for resumption of growth,” he said.

A 106.6 billion ruble suit against multi-industry holding Sistema filed by oil firms Rosneft and Bashneft is also affecting investor moods, the analyst said.  

Sistema’s shares dropped 12.63% on the court proceedings.

Otkritie Broker analyst Andrei Kochetkov said that the strong ruble negatively affected financial results of exporters. Fertilizer producer PhosAgro lost 3.43%, oil and gas company Surgutneftegas decreased 1.71%, oil major Lukoil fell 2.64%, steelmaker Novolipetsk Steel (NLMK) dropped 3.05%, and oil major Gazprom Neft fell 0.96%, the analyst said.

Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works (MMK) dropped 3.75% despite a report saying its net profit increased 50% on the year to U.S. $241 million in January–March, as calculated under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	-0.49	169.97	9.668
Gazprom	-2.30	131.10	4.847
Lukoil	-2.64	2840.00	1.984
Norilsk Nickel	-1.82	8500.00	1.779
Sistema	-12.63	13.76	1.622

(58.0824 rubles – U.S. $1)

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