Russian stocks fall on Greek debt issue uncertainty, lower oil

MOSCOW, Jun 25 (PRIME) -- Russian stocks fell on Thursday, as trading activity was low on expectations of the Greek debt issue solution, as well as amid a lack of major corporate news, ruble depreciation, and lower oil prices, analysts said.

The MICEX fell 1.20% to 1,631.99 and the RTS decreased 1.06% to 941.32.

“The Eurogroup meeting on the ‘Greek issue’ still remains in the center of traders’ attention, and an excessive level of uncertainty will remain on the market until official comments are made,” InstaForex analyst Igor Kovalyov said.

The Brent oil price fell to slightly below U.S. $63 per barrel from recent maximums of $64.5 as trading closed in Moscow, which put additional pressure on the Russian market, Veles Capital’s analyst Alexander Kostyukov said.

Shares of fertilizer maker Uralkali remained under pressure on recent reports of a possible delisting on the London Stock Exchange and fell 2.46% as trading closed on Thursday.

Oil major Lukoil decreased 1.6% despite its shareholders approving raising 2014 dividends by 40% to 131 billion rubles.

Retail chain Lenta continued reduction and closed 1% lower on Wednesday’s reports that the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) sold 17.833 million global depositary receipts (GDR) of the company at $7.85 per paper.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	-0.78	71.42	3.266
Gazprom	-2.03	143.70	3.140
Rosgosstrakh	0	5.25	2.572
VTB	+0.13	0.07800	1.971
Rosneft	-3.05	238.55	1.826

(54.0746 rubles – U.S. $1)

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