Russian stocks fall on profit taking, ahead of Minsk talks

MOSCOW, Feb 10 (PRIME) -- Russian stocks fell as market players took profits ahead of negotiations on the Ukrainian conflict on Wednesday and on the weakening ruble, analysts said on Tuesday.

The MICEX fell 0.35% to 1,742.35 and the RTS decreased 1.74% to 825.89.

“Market participants are not active waiting for the crucial negotiations in Minsk, which may be held on Wednesday,” Andrei Dirgin, head of Alfa-Forex’ analytical department, said.

Presidents of Germany, France, Ukraine and Russia are expected to discuss ways to settle the Ukrainian conflict in Minsk on Wednesday.

The E.U. has already prepared new sanctions, and if an agreement with Russia is not achieved, the risks are high that the sanctions will be introduced and that creates additional pressure for the stocks, the analyst said.

Sofia Kirsanova, analyst at Raiffeisen Capital, said the market also fell on profit taking as market participants preferred to close positions after a moderate growth during the trading session due to the nervousness ahead of the Minsk negotiations.

Sberbank’s preference shares fell 0.87% to 65 rubles as there are market fears that they may be excluded from the MSCI Index for April–May, which is to be revised on Wednesday, Kirsanova said.

Yandex fell 3% to 1,045 rubles after business newspaper Vedomosti reported that Google, the company’s main competitor, dominates in Russia in all segments, the analyst said.

Magnit rose 0.40% to 11.490 rubles after publishing strong financial results for January.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	-0.87	65.00	7.942
Gazprom	+0.01	149.31	4.690
Lukoil	-0.50	3000.00	3.819
Norilsk Nickel	0	11345.00	2.114
Rosneft	+0.02	257.05	1.383

(65.7817 rubles – U.S. $1)

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