Russian stocks fall on profit taking after Xi’s visit

MOSCOW, Mar 22 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market eased on Wednesday mainly because of profit taking in many shares after an increase triggered by the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to Moscow, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index fell by 0.18% to 2,393.88 and the RTS decreased by 0.40% to 980.02.

“The Russian stock market eased under the pressure of profit taking in the shares of some issuers,” Veles Capital analyst Yelena Kozhukhova said.

The overbought state of the Russian market softed in the middle of the week, while investors were evaluating prospects of Russia’s cooperation expansion with China and taking profits in the shares that grew earlier, she said.

“The downward correction happened on the background of profit taking in the wake of an over 5% growth of the Russian stock market before the visit of the Chinese delegation to Russia,” Vladimir Chernov, Freedom Finance Global’s analyst said.

The global depositary receipts of rail cargo operator Globaltrans gained 1.82% to 428.65 rubles as the company became one of the main beneficiaries of expansion of Russian–Chinese trade, Chernov said.

Kozhukhova said that oil major Rosneft rose by 1.75% to 378.30 rubles on Tuesday’s statement by President Vladimir Putin about Russia’s readiness to increase oil exports to China. Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin said that the company counted on expansion of cooperation and joint projects with China’s CNPC, she said.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	-0.04	203.24	10.024
Gazprom	-0.49	169.72	5.879
Ashinsky Metallurgical Works	+19.87	101.175	2.720
Mostotrest	+32.94	240.55	2.038
Belon	+17.20	25.14	1.820

(76.8373 rubles – U.S. $1)

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