Russian stocks mixed as market unsure about sanctions

MOSCOW, Jan 26 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market closed mixed, with the MOEX Russia Index falling and the RTS increasing on the back of an uncertainty about new Western sanctions, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index fell 0.20% to 3,390.76, and the RTS index grew 0.77% to 1,422.95.

"The MOEX Russia Index and the RTS Index changed insignificantly in the first half of the day unsure about the next trend. The ruble indicator consolidated slightly below 3,400,” Veles Capital analyst Yelena Kozhukhova said.

“If the sanctions threats do not materialize in the next few days, the Russian assets can temporarily forget about geopolitical risks and try to grow again."

Otkritie Broker analyst Andrei Kochetkov said that the risks of sanctions against Russia weakened on Monday as High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy of the E.U. Josep Borrell said that no country asked for any new sanctions against Russia over arrest of politician Alexei Navalny at a meeting of the European Council.

According to Kozhukhova, the Brent and WTI futures added a little more than 0.5% in the evening after easing in the morning.

The European markets were moderately positive with the Euro Stoxx 50 index increasing by 1.1%. The U.S. stock market futures were neutral -- the S&P 500 index fell 0.1% as market hopes for a fast adoption of economic stimuli weakened.

Kochetkov said that VSMPO-Avisma increased by 3.39% after signing a contract for supplies with Boeing.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	+1.12	268.27	18.789
Gazprom	-0.03	218.62	9.506
Lukoil	-2.31	5590	8.849
Yandex	+0.37	4920	4.578
Norilsk Nickel	-0.60	25826	4.449

(74.8569 rubles – U.S. $1)

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