Russian stocks flat as oil prices fall, US approves stimuli plan

MOSCOW, Aug 11 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market showed marginal dynamics on Wednesday after the U.S. called on the OPEC+ states to raise oil output, and the decrease of the oil prices accelerated to be balanced by the U.S. Senate approval of a $1 trillion infrastructure support plan, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index firmed by 0.39% to 3,877.37, and the RTS Index increased by 0.59% to 1,656.20.

"The MOEX Russia Index grew to 3.878.20 for a moment. But in the middle of trade, the situation deteriorated significantly. Brent fell again below U.S. $70 per barrel. The U.S. dollar index continued rising, while the risky currencies continued to decline," Andrei Kochetkov, leading analyst for global research at Otkritie Broker, said.

CNBC reported earlier citing national security advisor Jake Sullivan that the White House asked OPEC+ to raise oil output in order to counter rising gasoline prices. Kochetkov said that decline of the oil prices accelerated on the news. A fall of car sales in China for a third month in a row also hurt the market.

Kochetkov said that besides oil, the MOEX Russia Index was overbought since the start of August.

Finam analyst Natalya Pyryova said that investors focused on the spread of new COVID-19 strain because it affected the market negatively even before the oil price started to fall. But she added that the news about U.S. infrastructure support influenced the market positively.

According to Kochetkov, the electric power sector was the loss leader pressured by Federal Grid Company of Unified Energy Systems (FGC UES) (-0.48%) and Rosseti (-0.47%). Chemicals increased.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	+0.09	330.4	10.797
Gazprom	+0.45	289.92	10.109
Lukoil	+0.32	6444	5.597
Norilsk Nickel	-0.53	24520	4.091
VTB	+1.85	0.05281	3.282

(73.5962 – U.S. $1)

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