Russian stocks fall depressed by negative foreign dynamics

MOSCOW, Jul 18 (PRIME) -- Russian stocks dropped on Tuesday, as resumed growth of oil prices failed to offset negative moods coming from abroad, analysts said.

The MICEX fell 0.58% to 1,947.71 and the RTS decreased 0.09% to 1,038.45.

“On Tuesday, the Russian market could not resist the external background and demonstrates predominantly negative dynamics under the impact of risk aversion due to events in the White House, where (U.S. President Donald) Trump suffered another setback with the healthcare reform plan,” InstaForex analyst Igor Kovalyov said.

The negative sentiment is partially curbed by the situation on the oil market, where Brent quotations resumed modest growth, the analyst said.

“The local optimism on the oil market is evidently not sufficient now to offset the foreign negative sentiment, although the RTS is receiving moderate support on the back of resumed ruble growth,” Kovalyov said.

Finam expert Vasily Oleinik said that failed voting on a healthcare issue in the U.S. Senate, as well as weak data on economic conditions indices in Germany and the E.U. on the whole, worsened investment moods on European floors.

Shares of Russia’s Federal Grid Company of Unified Energy Systems (FGC UES) dropped 4.58% under the influence of an ex-dividend date, Kovalyov said.

Multi-industry holding Sistema’s shares remained under pressure of court proceedings over a dispute with oil major Rosneft and lost 1.77% on Tuesday.

Electronics retailer M.Video gained 1.34% after reporting that its retail sales grew 5.1% on the year to 46.229 billion rubles in April–June.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	-0.17	161.70	5.899
Gazprom	-0.52	124.49	4.944
ALROSA	-0.83	96.00	7.718
Lukoil	-1.39	2840.00	1.502
Rosneft	-0.25	315.1	1.388

(59.0657 rubles – U.S. $1)

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