Russian stocks flat on falling oil prices, weakening ruble

MOSCOW, Jul 11 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market closed little changed on Tuesday as the ruble resumed its weakening and the oil prices declined, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia index grew 0.12% to 2,860.33, and the RTS index increased 0.45% to 997.64.

"Moderate optimism dominated on the foreign stock markets on Tuesday ahead of possible signals of a consumer price inflation slowdown in the U.S., which can be given tomorrow… The Russian market retained stability in general and is looking for new drivers," Veles Capital analyst Yelena Kozhukhova said.

Sofya Kirsanova, portfolio manager at managing company Pervaya, said that the external background for the Russian session was neutral with the Brent prices decreasing to below U.S. $78 per barrel, and positive dynamics predominating on the global markets.

The ruble exchange rate against the U.S. dollar, the euro and the Chinese yuan retrenched from daily peaks in the evening after rising for two sessions in a row, Kozhukhova said.

The analyst said that the investor reaction to the news that Sberbank had a 728 billion ruble net profit in January–June 2023, 139 billion rubles for June and an 11.5% loan portfolio rise in January–June under Russian Accounting Standards was lukewarm, as the bank is expected to pay dividends only for 2023.

Sovcomflot recovered after a dividend cutoff earlier in July, Kozhukhova said.

Polyus erased the gains of Monday’s rally triggered by the news about a share buyback for the owners registered as of July 7, the analyst said.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	-0.67	247.72	11.441
Polyus	-2.39	10698	7.009
VTB	+0.85	0.023205	5.543
Magnit	+0.2	5501	4.420
Sovcomflot	+4.75	93.11	3.461

(91.4931 rubles – U.S. $1)

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