Russian stocks mixed amid falling oil, ambiguous background

MOSCOW, May 28 (PRIME) -- Russian stocks closed mixed on Monday amid falling oil prices and a mixed foreign background, analysts said.  

The MOEX Russia Index rose 0.20% to 2,311.28 and the RTS decreased 0.23% to 1,167.21.

“The MOEX Russia Index and the RTS index were showing mixed dynamics by the end of trading on Monday, which were caused by an ambiguous external background and ruble fluctuations,” Veles Broker analyst Yelena Kozhukhova said.

Stock floors in London and New York were closed for holidays, while Asian stock indices traded mixed, and pessimistic moods prevailed on European stock markets, the analyst said.

Oil prices accelerated decline by the end of the day losing 1–2% on a possibility of OPEC raising oil production next month, Kozhukhova said.

Oil major Lukoil added 0.99% on reports that its net profit soared 75% to 109.1 billion rubles in January–March, as calculated under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).

Power producer Wholesale Generating Company-2 (WGC-2) rose 2.22% despite reporting a 7.9% decline in IFRS net profit for January–March.

Hydropower giant RusHydro, whose board of directors recommended paying 11.226 billion rubles in dividends for 2017, lost 1.18%.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	+0.41	220.90	5.113
Lukoil	+0.99	4290.00	1.289
FIVE-GDR	+3.82	1915.00	1.256
Gazprom	0	145.09	0.972
Rosneft	+0.33	379.55	0.587

(61.6659 rubles – U.S. $1)

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