Russian stocks fall on unfavorable environment, Norilsk woes

MOSCOW, Feb 24 (PRIME) – The Russian stocks fell on Wednesday largely due to the decreasing foreign burses and Norilsk Nickel shares that plunged on the news about suspension of two mines, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index fell 1.41% to 3,385.48 and the RTS decreased 0.65% to 1,445.91.

“The international indices traded without a common trend today. The U.S. largely maintained a downward trend that emerged in the wake of statements by Federal Reserve System’s chairman Jerome Powell about the need to raise the key rate in the future,” Freedom Finance analyst Valery Yemelyanov said.

“Europe was less susceptible to the Federal Reserve System’s agenda, … while the Asian session ended with a … fall of up to 3%. This led to contractions in the broad indices of emerging countries, including those which comprise Russian assets.”

Shares of metals giant Norilsk Nickel plunged by 5.53% to 24,710 rubles on reports about collapse at the company’s concentrator facility and floods at one of its mines, which forced the company to suspend two deposits, Veles Capital analyst Yelena Kozhukhova said.

The sanction agenda still impacts the RTS Index, while the MOEX Russia Index looked weaker partially due to a fund outflow and partially due to growth of the Russian ruble, Yemelyanov said.

“The international stock indices experienced moderate downward corrections at the end of the day after several attempts for growth made by the Western bourses during the day. The pessimistic mood of the Russian floors was much more prominent due to the corporate stories and geopolitical risks. Nevertheless, the sales are mainly due to the lack of growth drivers,” Kozhukhova said.

She also said that global depositary receipts of TCS Group, which comprises Tinkoff Bank and Tinkoff Insurance, plummeted by 10.19% to 3,765 rubles on profit taking following growth to historical records on inclusion into the MSCI Russia 10/40 index.

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

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Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Norilsk Nickel	-5.53	24710.00	20.672
Sberbank	-1.43	269.79	16.163
Gazprom	-2.02	221.07	8.371
TCS Group GDRs	-10.19	3765.00	6.151
Lukoil	-0.62	5750.00	5.986

(73.9833 rubles – U.S. $1)

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