Russian stocks fall on coronavirus outbreak in China, oil price fall

MOSCOW, Nov 21 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market fell on Monday as the unfavorable coronavirus situation in China caused sales on the national market and in oil, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index fell by 1.81% to 2,166.31 and the RTS decreased by 2.16% to 1,122.29.

“The external background was negative because of the coronavirus situation in China, which threatens a new period of contraction. The risks of lower demand for oil in China led to a 10% decrease in the oil prices last week, and oil remains in a downward trend this week,” Otkritie Research leading analyst for global research Andrei Kochetkov said.

The situation in the Chinese economy is becoming one of the key factors for the Russian market as a possible fall of Chinese demand for commodities and industrial goods from Russia could have a serious impact on the future profits of national companies, Kochetkov said.

Dmitry Babin, stock market expert at BCS World of Investment, also said that the bad coronavirus situation in China may exacerbate economic problems exerting pressure on the stock markets of the world and the commodity prices.

“The Russian stock market remained in the red zone under the influence of the unfavorable external background and a lack of new growth ideas,” Veles Capital analyst Yelena Kozhukhova said.

The shares of payment system operator Qiwi outperformed the market and fell by only 0.48% to 4,290 rubles in reaction to a financial report for July–September published last week -- revenue grew by 10.3% on the year and the adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) increased by 46.6%, Kozhukhova said.

Kochetkov also said that children goods retailer Detsky Mir rose by 3.97% to 66.50 rubles as the buyback price, which set for the shareholders discontent with the upcoming reorganization, acts as a guidance for the securities.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	-2.56	133.38	9.244
Detsky Mir	+3.91	66.50	1.730
Norilsk Nickel	-2.94	14546.00	1.653
Lukoil	-0.96	4578.50	1.524
Gazprom	-0.68	167.64	1.431

(60.3741 rubles – U.S. $1)

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