Russian stocks mixed as US says may remove RUSAL from black list

MOSCOW, Apr 23 (PRIME) -- Russian stocks closed mixed on Monday as investors were pleased with news that the U.S. can lift sanctions against Russian aluminum producer UC RUSAL if businessman Oleg Deripaska cedes control over the company, while a ruble slump undermined the dollar-denominated RTS index, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index rose 0.82% to 2,250.99 and the RTS decreased 0.10% to 1,144.66.

“The Russian stock indices plunged on opening, but the latest news about RUSAL improved investor mood significantly. It was announced that the U.S. is ready to lift sanctions from the Russian aluminum giant if Oleg Deripaska loses control over the company. The statement was a blow for metals prices, while shares of RUSAL skyrocketed,” Vasily Oleinik, an expert at investment company Finam, said.

Shares of metals giant Norilsk Nickel also won from the news flow, Oleinik said. RUSAL gained 17.65% to 27 rubles, while Norilsk Nickel rose 2.45% to 10,875 rubles.

“The Russian ruble also reacted to that with a 0.5% increase, but contraction of oil prices exerted pressure on it,” Oleinik added.

Yelena Kozhukhova, an analyst at investment company Veles Broker, said that the weakness of the ruble resulted in mixed dynamics of Russian indices.

“The hope for a positive outcome of the RUSAL story charged investors with a positive mood, but so far we saw only words. A downward correction of oil prices is a factor of danger for the ruble and the stock market for several coming days,” she said.

Andrei Kochetkov, an analyst at Otkritie Broker, said that the external background was not favorable to buyers during the day.

“The idea of the yield on 10-year U.S. treasuries rising to 3.0% dominated the global market today. All risky assets were under the pressure of the background,” he said.

Kochetkov also said that Russia’s largest truck producer Kamaz fell 1.20% to 49.40 rubles after publication of a 214.863 million ruble net loss for January–March against a net profit of 34.423 million rubles in the same period of 2017, as calculated under Russian Accounting Standards (RAS).

Global depositary receipts of agricultural holding Rusagro fell 0.22% to 668 rubles as the company’s revenue fell 23% year-on-year in January–March, Kochetkov added.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	+3.66	223.25	25.595
PIK Group	-0.68	306.90	5.315
Gazprom	-0.28	143.99	4.678
Norilsk Nickel	+2.45	10875.00	3.572
Lukoil	-0.28	3974.00	3.253

(61.3222 rubles – U.S. $1)

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