Russian stocks fall as US–China trade war rages, oil price falls

MOSCOW, Aug 2 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market declined on Thursday on investor fears over continuation of the U.S.–China trade conflict and a decrease of oil prices, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index decreased 0.87% to 2,295.15 and the RTS index fell 1.65% to 1,140.96.

“The Russian market is again falling under the pressure of external factors. The U.S. insistence in raising the duties on U.S $200 billion worth of Chinese exports to 25% creates the risks of lower demand on the key items of Russian goods on the global market,” Andrei Kochetkov, an analyst at Otkritie Broker, said.

Ivan Marchena, an analyst at investment company Forex Club, said that oil prices fell to $73 per barrel on the back of data released by the U.S. Energy Department.

Kochetkov said that Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works (MMK) increased 0.55% after it reported a robust 32% growth of net profit in April-June.

Rostelecom also grew 0.07% after a release of a financial report for April–June; the net profit grew 9.5%, the analyst said.

He said that a report of Enel Russia was a disappointment, albeit expected. The net profit fell 23% under Russian Accounting Standards (RAS) in January–June. The shares fell 1.76%.

Vasily Oleinik, an analyst at investment company Finam, said that Aeroflot dove 4.13% after releasing a weak April–June report under Russian Accounting Standards (RAS).

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	-1.9	206.6	12.095
Lukoil	+0.17	4501.5	1.990
ALROSA	-0.5	95.5	1.945
Gazprom	-1.25	140.36	1.790
Norilsk Nickel	-0.76	10700	1.341

(62.5590 rubles – U.S. $1)

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