Russian stocks fall on low oil price, drop on Western floors

MOSCOW, Jan 14 (PRIME) -- Russian stocks decreased on Thursday on the back of low oil prices and overall negative foreign background, analysts said.

The MICEX fell 0.24% to 1.680,77 and the RTS decreased 0.10% to 692.99.

“The foreign background looks negative – European floors are suffering losses following Asian stocks,” InstaForex analyst Igor Kovalyov said.

Brent oil prices still remain below U.S. $31 per barrel, the analyst said.

Multi-industry holding Sistema was among growth leaders, having risen 4.7% on news that a criminal case against its core owner Vladimir Yevtushenkov over acquisition of fuel and energy assets of the republic of Bashkortostan has been dismissed, Raiffeisen Capital analyst Sofya Kirsanova said.

Oil and gas company Surgutneftegas grew 0.09% on news that its oil output rose 0.32% to 61.622 million tonnes in 2015.

The country’s largest carmaker AvtoVAZ went down 0.85% on report that its sales dropped 30% to 269,000 units in 2015.

Fertilizer producer Uralkali fell 0.2% after reporting that its potash chloride output decreased by 5.8% to 11.4 million tonnes in 2015.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	+1.68	93.04	7.437
Gazprom	-0.34	130.86	5.728
Lukoil	-1.62	2188.90	3.224
Norilsk Nickel	-1.74	8464.00	2.605
Magnit	-1.18	10230.00	1.883

(76.4275 rubles – U.S. $1)

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