Russian stocks mixed as ruble rises in line with oil prices

MOSCOW, Jan 12 (PRIME) -- Russian stocks closed mixed on Thursday as the U.S. dollar-denominated RTS index was supported by a strengthening ruble as the oil price rose, analysts said.

The MICEX fell 0.30% to 2,212.00 and the RTS increased 1.71% to 1,175.28.

“The MICEX attempted to grow this morning due to a rebound in oil prices, but the not overly optimistic mood of Donald Trump’s press conference regarding Russia and the growing ruble exerted pressure on the benchmark,” Irina Rogova, an analyst at Forex Club group of companies, said.

But Andrei Kochetkov, an analyst at Otkritie Broker, said that Trump still said nothing explicitly negative about Russia, and the market disposition remained the same.

“A rebound on the crude market became the growth driver for the (RTS index)…The positive mood backed by oil was supported by media reports on slashes of output by the OPEC states. Iran has confirmed its plans to reduce production in accordance with the OPEC agreement until the end of January, while Saudi Arabia exceeded the target contraction level already in November,” Sofya Kirsanova, an analyst at managing company Raiffeisen Capital, said.

The Brent oil price rose 1.59% to U.S. $55.99 per barrel as of 6.15 p.m. Moscow time, according to the ICE exchange.

Kirsanova also said that some positive impact was provided by a statement of Finance Minister Anton Siluanov that the government will make no exceptions for state-controlled companies in fulfillment of a ruling to pay of 50% of the net profit in dividends this year. This may help shares of gas giant Gazprom and become an additional attractive factor of the local market for foreign investors.

She also said that shares of local real estate developers have been growing since the beginning of the year, including shares of LSR Group, which rose 1.97% to 1,036 rubles today on expectations of lower interest rates and higher demand.

Shares of metals giant Norilsk Nickel fell 4.26% to 9,994 rubles after media reports that Indonesia eased export restrictions of its mining companies, she said.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	-0.46	168.27	8.443
Norilsk Nickel	-4.26	9994.00	6.119
Gazprom	+0.15	157.25	3.787
Lukoil	-2.78	3300.00	2.598
Rosneft	-1.65	390.95	1.987

(60.1614 rubles – U.S. $1)

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