Russian stocks fall on oil price standstill, ruble dip

MOSCOW, Jun 9 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market decreased on Thursday on the back of a slight correction in the oil prices and a short decrease of the national currency after President Vladimir Putin abolished obligatory 50% of foreign currency revenue sales by exporters, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index fell by 1.07% to 2,293.99, and the RTS index decreased by 1.52% to 1,212.58.

"The Russian market has risen to its high since the end of May on the U.S. dollar-denominated RTS thanks to new ruble strengthening ahead of the Friday meeting of the central bank, while the MOEX Russia Index could not break through the 2,360 resistance," Veles Capital’s analyst Yelena Kozhukhova said.

The RTS index fluctuated during the day but finished the session in the red as the ruble dipped after the foreign currency revenue decree, Dmitry Babin, stock market expert at BCS World of Investment, said.

The ruble erased the loss, as Russians might have started to sell foreign currency after Tinkoff Bank decided to charge a 12% annual commission for foreign currency accounts, and investors are concerned that the rest of the sector will follow suit, he added. However, the RTS index did not recover.

Babin said that the oil prices attempted to set a three-month high, after which it consolidated with the Brent blend losing slightly to U.S. $123.5 per barrel. An optimistic mood on the market persisted because China eased the anti-coronavirus restrictions, which may support oil demand as the car season begins. Besides, the employees of Norway's oilfields may start a strike on June 12, demanding higher salaries.

According to Otkritie Research’s senior analyst Andrei Kochetkov, ALROSA decreased faster than the rest of the market after the supervisory board decided against paying final dividends for 2021.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Gazprom	-0.49	306.5	8.101
Sberbank	-1.42	118.2	3.477
Norilsk Nickel	+0.87	20310	1.739
ALROSA	-2.98	66.06	1.129
Lukoil	-1.76	3876	1.125

(60.2282 rubles – U.S. $1)

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