Russian stocks fall discouraged by negative global background

MOSCOW, Mar 19 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market closed lower on Friday despite growth attempts during the day thanks to global profit-taking and a further rise of yields on foreign debt markets, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index lost 0.84% to 3,475.26 and the RTS decreased 0.99% to 1,474.05.

“The MOEX Russia and the RTS indices returned to negative dynamics after growth attempts during the day… (The benchmarks) remained in the negative territory by the end of the trading session on Friday, but stayed above the short-term support levels of 3,450 and 1,470,” Veles Broker analyst Yelena Kozhukhova said.

Profit-taking prevailed on foreign stock exchanges, but crude prices bounced back from their short-term lowest, supporting domestic energy stocks, she added.

Otkritie Broker analyst Andrei Kochetkov said that the Russian stock market was again pressured by a further rise of yields in major funding currencies and that the central bank’s decision to raise the key interest rate by 25 basis points to 4.5% has not impacted local shares much yet.

Kozhukhova also said that grocery retailer X5 Retail Group was among the biggest losers falling 2.28% on weaker-than-expected IFRS financial results for October–December 2020.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	+1.82	284.32	22.543
Lukoil	-0.98	6023.5	16.460
Gazprom	+0.33	225.08	12.299
Norilsk Nickel	+0.51	22.712	7.463
Yandex	+1.34	4923	5.120

(73.6582 rubles – U.S. $1)

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