Russian stocks flat on oil price fluctuations, European markets' rise

MOSCOW, Nov 24 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market closed with marginal changes on Thursday on the back of fluctuating oil prices and rising European stock markets, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index eased by 0.04% to 2,210.95, and the RTS index decreased 0.10% to 1,146.28.

"Purchases caused by hints at a more gradual increase of the Federal Reserve System (Fed) rates in December, persisted on the foreign trading floors on Thursday. The oil prices consolidated on expectation of new fundamental signals," Veles Capital analyst Yelena Kozhukhova said.

At the end of the session, the market erased the increase, as the oil prices lost about 0.5%, the analyst said. Managing company Pervaya analyst Dmitry Postolenko said that the prices fluctuated during the day as the commercial reserves in the U.S. fell by 3.7 million barrels last week, according to the Department of Energy, but the decision on a ceiling for the price of Russian oil remains uncertain, he said.

The U.S. markets were closed for Thanksgiving, but according to Postolenko, the American investors continued to focus on an idea of milder credit policies in the U.S. that would reduce the negative effect of the key rate rise on the economy.

According to Kozhukhova, a positive trend in the U.S. on Wednesday raised the Euro Stoxx 50 index by 0.6%.

In Russia, Polyus and Detsky Mir lost 1.79% and 0.34% respectively after robust growth in the past few sessions, the analyst said.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	+0.17	136.82	5.252
Polyus	-1.79	7013	3.206
Gazprom	+0.08	169.29	1.740
Lukoil	-0.26	4667	0.952
Yandex	-0.09	2133	0.693

(60.5043 rubles – U.S. $1)

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