Russian stocks fall in line with global floors, oil prices

MOSCOW, May 23 (PRIME) -- Russian stocks decreased on Thursday dragged by a sharp worsening of the foreign background and falling oil prices, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index fell 0.76% to 2,618.61, and the RTS Index decreased 1.34% to 1,275.42.

“On Thursday, Russian indices opened downwards and were actively reducing for some time, reacting to a sharp worsening of the foreign background. Global markets were under pressure of enhanced concerns over a trade conflict between the U.S. and China,” BCS Broker expert Dmitry Babin said.

Otkritie Broker analyst Andrei Kochetkov said, “The negative external background coincided with the local overbought of the Russian market, which led to a slight correction in the MOEX Russia Index. Losses in the RTS Index were more significant due to the weakening of the ruble.”

The country’s second biggest lender VTB Bank was among growth leaders, jumping 10.13% after it announced plans to pay 50% of net profit under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in dividends in 2019–2022.

Metals and mining group Mechel was among outsiders, with its common and preferred shares dropping by 4.25% and 3.56%, respectively, despite reporting that its IFRS net profit tripled to 11.336 billion rubles in January–March and after saying that its coal output fell 29% to 3.52 million tonnes in the period.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	-2.78	229.30	11.949
Gazprom	+0.37	208.86	11.402
Lukoil	-0.8	5275.00	4.598
VTB	+10.13	0.03875	3.910
Novatek	+0.39	1302.00	1.914

(64.4156 rubles – U.S. $1)

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