Russian stocks fall on lower oil, Ukrainian ceasefire breach

MOSCOW, Feb 17 (PRIME) -- Russian stocks fell on slight downward correction of the Brent price to around U.S. $61 per barrel and amid the news on the breach of a ceasefire by both the Ukrainian army and separatists, analysts said.

The MICEX fell 0.38% to 1,793.82 and the RTS decreased 0.31% to 894.61.

“The stock market was volatile due to the situation in Ukraine, the market dynamics reflected news concerning the ongoing conflict,” Sofiya Kirsanova, analyst at Raiffeisen Capital, said.

The stock market was pressured by the news that both the Ukrainian army and separatists breach a ceasefire, Andrei Dirgin, head of Alfa-Forex’ analytical department, said.

The Brent price slightly corrected down to about 61% ahead of a publication of U.S. oil stocks on Wednesday, Timur Nigmatullin, analyst at Finam, said.

TMK rose 3.03% after Gazprom announced a tender for supplies of steel pipes for 67.866 billion rubles for construction of a pipeline to China, Kirsanova said.

Severstal rose 1.99% in anticipation of strong IFRS results for October–December 2014 to be published on Wednesday, she said.

PhosAgro rose1.88% on the news that Russia’s antimonopoly watchdog supports a pricing formula for fertilizers, Veles Capital analyst Vasily Tanurkov said.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	+3.50	72.45	17.550
Gazprom	-0.62	159.20	9.568
Lukoil	-0.33	3010.00	3.361
Norilsk Nickel	-4.41	11375.00	2.697
Rosneft	-1.34	275.95	2.494

(62.6632 rubles – U.S. $1)

End