Russian stocks fall on ruble fluctuations, oil price fall

MOSCOW, Jul 21 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market decreased on Thursday, as the ruble fluctuated during the day and the oil prices decreased, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index fell 1.04% to 2,053.64, and the RTS index decreased 3.93% to 1,142.18.

"The ruble and fears of new troubles due to the active desire of the U.S. Congress to give Russia another pariah status pressured the ruble-denominated index (MOEX Russia Index). Later the ruble started to weaken (perhaps, due to interventions of the Finance Ministry), which partially erased the ruble shares’ losses," Otkritie Research leading analyst Andrei Kochetkov said.

Late on Wednesday, U.S. Congress Speaker Nancy Pelosi asked Secretary of State Antony Blinken to label Russia a terrorist sponsor, or the Congress will do it using its own authorities.

Dmitry Postolenko, senior portfolio manager of management company Pervaya, said that the Brent prices decreased below U.S. $105 per barrel on the back of weakening demand for gasoline in the U.S. in spite of the seasonal factor.

Surgutneftegas was among the market leaders. According to Kochetkov, the shares outperformed the market on the back of reports that a negative interest on corporate foreign currency deposits, which could be introduced soon, may benefit the company, which would buy assets of the firms leaving Russia at a discount. Besides, Surgutneftegas is a protective asset during a ruble fall, the analyst said.

Gazprom lost after relaunching the Nord Stream gas pipeline, while the pumping volume amounted to 40% of the pipeline capacity.

Polymetal was the outsider of the day, losing 11.83% on the news about cutting the output 7% in January–June and raising the net debt to about $2.8 billion.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	-0.76	125.48	6.673
Gazprom	-1.92	189.59	5.299
Lukoil	-1.13	3539.5	1.713
Surgutneftegas	+3.49	25.77	1.198
Norilsk Nickel	-1.66	14800	1.064

(54.8491 rubles – U.S. $1)

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