Russian stocks fall on strong US statistics, weak oil price

MOSCOW, Sep 16 (PRIME) -- Russian stocks contracted on Friday as investors fled from risky assets due to strong U.S. macroeconomic statistics, and a contraction of oil prices provided no support for local shares, analysts said.

The MICEX fell 0.73% to 1,981.96 and the RTS decreased 0.98% to 961.41.

“The key reason for world-scale sales was an escape from risks on the background of positive inflation data in the U.S., which improved a possibility of the U.S. Federal Reserve System (Fed) raising its key rate next week,” Andrei Dirgin, head of the analytical department at Alfa-Forex, said.

Consumer prices in the U.S. grew by 0.2% in August against an expected 0.1% increase, while the basic consumer price index (CPI) excluding prices for food and energy sources showed growth of 0.3$, a record high since February, while forecasts envisaged a 0.2% rise, Dirgin said.

The Brent oil price lost 0.67% to U.S. $46.28 per barrel as of 5.55 p.m. Moscow time, according to the ICE exchange.

“The oil price is falling…There is nothing new here, as it is under effect from weak statistics on reserves and production of the EIA (Energy Information Administration), and also from pessimistic forecasts on demand for oil from the IEA (International Energy Agency). The strong U.S. dollar also exerts an obvious pressure on the prices,” Timur Nigmatullin, an analyst at investment company Finam, said.

The Russian central bank on Friday decided to cut its key rate by 50 basis points to 10%, but the decision was in line with forecasts and market expectations, so neither the ruble’s exchange rate nor stock indices showed any noticeable reaction to the decision, Igor Kovalyov, an analyst at InstaForex group of companies, said.

Shares of steelmaker Severstal lost 0.55% to 726.40 rubles in correction after yesterday’s contraction, which happened due to a dividend cut-off, Kovalyov said.

Shares of Russian retailers Magnit and Dixy Group rose 1% to 10,269 rubles and 0.77% to 328 rubles, respectively, in correction from recent losses suffered due to weak operating data for August, Vitaly Manzhos, an analyst at Bank Obrazovanie, said.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	-1.43	147.00	7.409
Gazprom	-0.82	136.47	3.951
Lukoil	-0.95	3028.00	3.787
Inter RAO	-3.19	3.069	2.832
Uralkali	-0.14	184.00	2.205

(65.2170 rubles – U.S. $1)

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