Russian stocks falls prior to Christmas holidays in US, Europe

MOSCOW, Dec 23 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market corrected down on Thursday after two sessions of gains as investors preferred to take profit ahead of the lengthy Catholic Christmas holidays, while gas prices bounced back to below U.S. $1,500 from over $2,000 per 1,000 cubic meters, analysts said.  

The MOEX Russia Index fell 1.12% to 3,704.60 and the RTS decreased 0.88% to 1,587.87.

“Traders were taking profit after two sessions of gains and ahead of the lengthy Christmas holidays in the U.S. and Europe. The MOEX Russia Index finished the day below 3,700 with gas companies being the main contributors into the decline,” Alexei Golovinov, chief analyst at PSB Bank, said.

Gas prices in Europe bounced back to below $1,500 per 1,000 cubic meters so investors preferred to close their long positions in gas producers Gazprom and Novatek, which lost 1.15% and 3.23%, respectively, he explained.

Golovinov also said that the consumer sector was under pressure with grocery retailer X5 Retail falling 3.12% and largest children goods retailer Detsky Mir decreasing 2.72%.

Otkritie Broker analyst Andrei Kochetkov said that the external background was neutral. European indices advanced to reach 2-week highs, and oil prices remained almost unchanged.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Gazprom	-1.15	341.58	21.805
Sberbank	+0.1	294.3	15.029
Lukoil	-0.67	6307	3.852
Norilsk Nickel	+0.38	21918	3.763
Yandex	-1.38	4426.6	2.862

(73.7901 rubles – U.S. $1)

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