Russian stocks fall with ruble although oil tests $50 again

MOSCOW, May 31 (PRIME) -- Russian stocks fell on Tuesday following a decrease of the ruble and an intra-day oil price drop, amid no significant drivers for any movements, although oil prices rebounded by the closing bell and tried to climb above $50 per barrel, analysts said.

The MICEX fell 1.89% to 1,899.01 and the RTS decreased 2.29% to 904.33.

The Russian stock market was put under pressure amid a mostly negative foreign background and an intra-day fall of oil prices, some analysts said.

Investors are worried about upcoming important events, including an OPEC summit on Thursday and a release of U.S. oil reserves data, Andrei Dirgin, head of Alfa-Forex analytical department, said.

Domestic stocks were also pushed down by a fall of the ruble against main foreign currencies, analysts said.

The ruble fell to about 66.2 against the U.S. dollar by the closing bell amid investor expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve System may increase interest rates soon, Irina Rogova, an analyst at Forex Club, said.

Dirgin also added that “there were no global triggers for both growth and decline” during the domestic trading session.

Fertilizer producer Acron, which reported a 79% year-on-year net profit increase under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in January–March, jumped 3.27% to 3,795 rubles, Otkritie Broker analyst Andrei Kochetkov said.

Metals and mining giant Mechel rose 1.28% to 63.5 rubles, because the company’s shareholders had approved a debt-restructuring plan, Kochetkov said.

Vitaly Manzhos, a senior analyst at Bank Obrazovanie, said that top Russian lender Sberbank, which increased 1.86% to 91.5 rubles per preferred share, was still supported by strong IFRS results for January–March.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Lukoil	-4.66	2570.00	14.572
Sberbank	-1.41	132.56	12.554
Gazprom	-2.74	145.50	6.135
Sberbank pref	+1.86	91.50	3.183
Norilsk Nickel	-2.28	8990.00	1.913

(66.0825 rubles – U.S. $1)

End