Russian stocks mixed as ruble weakens, no strong stimuli emerge

MOSCOW, Sep 27 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market closed mixed on Wednesday, as investors reacted to weakening of the ruble, receiving almost no other insights, analysts said.

The MICEX grew 0.48% to 2,081.12 and the RTS fell 0.03% to 1,126.94.

“On Wednesday, September 27, the Russian market remained in the upward trend but mostly on the back of a weakening of the ruble exchange rate by 0.8%. The MICEX was adding 0.5% and the RTS losing 0.2%,” Raiffeisen Capital analyst Sofya Kirsanova said.

The ruble sank as the dividend season ended and the U.S. dollar continued strengthening on the back of a comment by the chairwoman of the U.S. Federal Reserve System (Fed) that it would be unwise to put the monetary policy on hold until inflation returns to the 2% target, Kirsanova said.

Brent oil blend prices saw a dip but rebounded to exceed U.S. $58.1 per barrel.

According to Forex Club analyst Irina Rogova, the Russian market did not receive strong signals for growth on Wednesday and oil prices were a limiting factor for the market.

Kirsanova said that coal shares were recovering after recent sell-offs.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	+0.6	193.7	10.619
Gazprom	+0.27	123.36	2.772
Rosneft	+0.32	324.5	1.725
Lukoil	+1.41	3064.5	1.702
Norilsk Nickel	+0.44	9649	1.528

(57.5186 rubles – U.S. $1)

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