Russian stocks fall on growing fears of new US sanctions

MOSCOW, Apr 22 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market fell on Tuesday again on stronger investor concern that the U.S. can slap new sanctions against the largest domestic banks and energy companies, analysts said.

The MICEX decreased 0.70% to 1,335.62 and the RTS fell 0.77% to 1,178.81.

“The euphoria seen after the meeting in Geneva has almost expired, as all promises to lay down arms were not backed by any real actions,” Raiffeisen Capital analyst Sofiya Kirsanova said.

Despite an agreement between the E.U., the U.S., Russia and Ukraine struck over the weekend to avert wider conflict in Ukraine, as pro-Moscow separatist gunmen showed no wish to surrender.

Analysts expect high volatility on the domestic stock market, as geopolitical instability and uncertainty will a have more significant impact on the market than all the corporate news, Kirsanova said.

The U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry again accused Moscow of failure to restrain protests of pro-Russian militants in Eastern Ukraine. Kerry said that if the Kremlin does not take any steps in the few upcoming days, it will cause response from the international community.

In addition, the U.S.’ senators suggested imposing extra restrictions against Russia’s largest banks and energy companies, which were loss leaders during the trade: gas giant Gazprom lost 0.74% to 131.70 rubles, while Sberbank and VTB fell 1.70% and 0.36% to 76.30 rubles and 0.003839 rubles respectively.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	-1.70	76.30	10.367
Gazprom	-0.74	131.70	7.307
VTB	-0.36	0,003839	1.918
Lukoil	-0.80	1874.4	1.655
Norilsk Nickel	0.0	6424.00	1.634

(35.6688 rubles – U.S. $1)

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