Russian stocks fall dragged by oil prices, global floors

MOSCOW, Jul 18 (PRIME) -- Russian stocks continued their decline on Thursday depressed by negative moods on global floors and falling oil prices, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index fell 0.39% to 2,702.59 and the RTS decreased 0.87% to 1,349.76.

“On Thursday, the Russian stock market again suffered losses. And if the day before an ex-dividend date of several companies was the main factor, today negative mood came from outside. Thus, the situation on the energy market, where the decline continues for the fourth session and the nearest futures for Brent crude retreated from U.S. $67 to $62.3 per barrel during this period, could serve as a reason for sales,” Promsvyazbank chief analyst Bogdan Zvarich said.

Oil pipeline monopoly Transneft was among outsiders, with its preferred shares losing 3.15% as they started trading ex-dividend. Preferred shares of oil and gas company Surgutneftegas dropped 2.81% for the same reason.

Metals giant Norilsk Nickel and telecom operator Rostelecom were among growth leaders, adding 2% and 2.35%, respectively, Zvarich said.

Hydropower giant RusHydro lost 0.14% after reporting that its power output fell 13.1% on the year to 58.539 billion kilowatt-hours in January–June.

Russia’s largest children goods retailer Detsky Mir added 1.59% on reports that its consolidated unaudited revenue went up 16.2% on the year to 55.9 billion rubles in January–June.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Gazprom	-0.86	218.30	6.727
Sberbank	+0.06	234.78	5.422
Norilsk Nickel	+2	14770.00	2.763
Lukoil	-0.77	5166.00	1.892
Surgutneftegas pref	-2.81	33.575	1.621

(62.9451 rubles – U.S. $1)

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