Russian stocks fall on investors’ fears for global economy

MOSCOW, Mar 16 (PRIME) – The Russian stock market followed all major global bourses on Monday into a decline as investors were unhappy with the measures taken by the regulators of major countries, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index fell 2.14% to 2,266.90 and the RTS decreased 2.50% to 966.93.

“The Russian stocks slumped today and the sales only deepened when the international bourses opened,” Veles Capital’s analyst Yelena Kozhukhova said.

The background for the Russian stock market was negative as the Brent oil price dropped to its lowest point since January 2016. Panic sales continued on the oil market as no positive news emerged today, she said.

Andrei Kochetkov, analyst at Otkritie Broker, said that the markets were still very jittery.

“Hasty actions of the U.S. Federal Reserve System only worried investors more instead of calming them. The largest U.S. banks suspended their buyback programs, which may point to problems with liquidity. The Chinese macro statistics for February turned out to be worse than expected, prompting similar fates for other economies that have to take measures against the coronavirus,” Kochetkov said.

Yaroslav Kabakov, director for strategy at investment company Finam, said that institutional investors and investors who had neglected risk management before were cutting their positions.

“Funds have to do that because of their strategies, and positions are being reduced automatically, drawing negligent investors to their margin calls. The current downtrend will continue until fears leave the market and portfolios of large players fall in line with their declarations,” Kabakov said.

Kochetkov also said that metals companies were under pressure. Metals giant Norilsk Nickel lost 5.26% to 17,090 rubles.

Preferred shares of oil company Surgutneftegas, which is conspicuous for its heavy foreign currency position, outperformed the market to gain 0.76% to 36 rubles, a usual reaction to ruble weakening, Kochetkov said.

Preferred shares of oil pipeline monopoly Transneft also rose by 4.25% to 144,850 rubles as the company’s net profit does not depend on oil prices, he said.

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

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Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	-1.38	195.85	33.462
Gazprom	+1.19	168.07	19.008
Norilsk Nickel	-5.26	17090.00	11.856
Lukoil	-3.69	4251.00	10.915
Rosneft	-2.91	258.50	8.042

(73.1882 rubles – U.S. $1)

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