Russian stocks mixed as government statements back RTS

MOSCOW, Jun 18 (PRIME) -- Russian stocks closed mixed on Thursday, as the RTS was buoyed by upbeat statements of government officials at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, while the MICEX sagged following mixed foreign trade.

The MICEX fell 0.27% to 1,660.14 and the RTS increased 1.58% to 981.82.

“Economic Development Minister Alexei Ulyukayev said that the dollar will be kept at the level slightly exceeding 50 rubles that is its fundamental rate. The same rhetoric was demonstrated by Central Bank Chairwoman Elvira Nabiullina. These verbal interventions were aimed at fixing the dollar above 50 rubles,” Igor Kovalyov, analyst at InstaForex, said.

The RTS was also supported by an intraday rebounding of the ruble, Mikhail Krylov, director of the Golden Hills-Kapital research department, said.

The slight downward consolidation of the MICEX was connected with mixed trading in Europe and mixed dynamics of trading in contracts for U.S. stock indices, Vitaly Manzhos, chief analyst at bank Obrazovanie, said, adding that the U.S. statistics published late Wednesday put the index under additional pressure.

Agricultural producer Razgulay Group rose 6.72% to 14.14 rubles on the news that it may be bought by multi-industry holding AFK Sistema, which will help Razgulay decrease its 30 billion ruble debt burden, Kovalyov said.

Power generating company Enel Russia rose 5.12% to 0.985 rubles after its shareholders approved paying 2.86 billion rubles per share in 2014 dividends from an adjusted net profit.

Fertilizer producer PhosAgro and grocery retailer Magnit fell 1.17% to 2,020 rubles and 0.69% to 11,440 rubles, respectively, in anticipation of dividend cut-offs on Friday.

Below are the MICEX’ five most active stocks on Thursday:

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	+0.23	72.98	6.721
Gazprom	-0.30	147.15	4.968
Lukoil	+0.04	2476.00	1.626
Magnit	-0.69	11440.00	1.498
Norilsk Nickel	-1.04	9579.00	1.289

(53.8999 rubles – U.S. $1)

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