Russian stocks fall as no news of Putin-Trump meeting come on time

MOSCOW, Jul 16 (PRIME) -- Russian stocks fell on Monday due to an unfavorable external background as news and statements after a long-expected meeting of Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump came too late in the trading session, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index fell 0.52% to 2,334.18 and the RTS decreased 0.73% to 1,180.64.

“The Russian stock market finished the day in the red zone as it was tired of waiting for positive signals from the Putin-Trump meeting. It is possible that some statements will be made later. Still, the lack of reasons for optimism and the worsening of external background may lead to further contraction on Tuesday,” Yelena Kozhukhova, an analyst at Veles Broker, said.

The U.S. stock indices also slid 0.1–0.2% after a positive start of the trade under the pressure of falling oil prices, which also made a negative impact on the Russian market. The Brent oil price fell as the market thought that Russia may raise its oil production even higher than the figure agreed with OPEC and non-OPEC states, and U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin announced possible easing in regards to countries that are unable to reject purchases of Iranian oil until November, Kozhukhova said.

The Brent oil price plummeted 3.875% to U.S. $72.52 per barrel as of 6.22 p.m. Moscow time, according to the ICE exchange.

“The meeting of presidents of Russia and the U.S. in Helsinki was the major event of the day. Unfortunately, no specific statements were made following the meeting, so the Russian market had to pay attention to external factors, which were mostly negative. The U.S. and European indices traded mainly in the red zone,” Alexey Aldonin, an analyst at investment company Veles Capital, said.

Shares of metals giant Norilsk Nickel lost 6.30% due to a dividend cut-off, Aldonin said.

Shares of mobile operator MegaFon soared 15.95% after the company’s board of directors approved a program to buy back common shares and global depositary receipts (GDRs) and also approved delisting of GDRs from the London Stock Exchange, he said.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	-0.81	227.99	8.145
Gazprom	+0.09	147.00	3.814
Norilsk Nickel	-6.30	10680.00	3.060
MegaFon	+15.95	584.40	2.652
Lukoil	-0.43	4300.50	1.985

(62.2934 rubles – U.S. $1)

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