Russian stocks fall on oil price slump, negative background

MOSCOW, Sep 1 (PRIME) -- Russian stocks decreased on Tuesday, as oil prices showed a major decline after Monday’s hike, and amid overall negative foreign background, analysts said.

The MICEX fell 2.03% to 1,697.99 and the RTS decreased 3.42% to 805.06.

“Reacting to a significant reduction of oil quotations, the MICEX failed to stay in the green zone despite having received support from a weak ruble,” Finam analyst Timur Nigmatullin said.

Brent oil price fell over 8% to slightly below U.S. $50 per barrel on weak statistical data from China and the U.S. as Moscow trading closed following an over 8% growth on Monday sparkled by rumors that OPEC is ready for talks with producers to stabilize global oil prices.

Shares of troubled airline Transaero jumped 39.8% on reports that national flag carrier Aeroflot plans to acquire 75% in the company, while Aeroflot’s shares decreased 5.75%.

Gas giant Gazprom closed 2.5% lower despite reporting that its net profit increased 50% on the year to 675.904 billion rubles in January–June, as calculated under International Financial Reporting Standards.

Debt-ridden metals and mining group Mechel’s common shares gained 0.22% and preferred shares grew 1.12% after one of the firm’s major creditors, Sberbank, said it was ready to give the company a chance even though Mechel has not paid anything to the bank for over a year.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	-1.83	73.14	9.762
Gazprom	-2.49	144.50	5.136
Lukoil	-3.00	2455.00	3.601
Norilsk Nickel	-2.27	10329.00	2.172
VTB	-2.49	0.06728	1.953

(66.7152 rubles – U.S. $1)

End