Russian stocks mixed in thin pre-holiday trade amid ruble rise

MOSCOW, Feb 20 (PRIME) -- Russian stocks closed mixed on Saturday in thin pre-holiday trade, influenced only by technical factors amid a strong ruble and the absence of trading on foreign floors, analysts said.

The MICEX fell 0.18% to 1,790.15 and the RTS increased 0.96% to 732.95.

“Our indices were influenced only by technical factors because of the absence of trading on foreign markets,” Andrei Dirgin, the head of the analytical department at Alfa-Forex, said.

Vitaly Manzhos, a senior analyst at Bank Obrazovanie, said, “A significant rise of the dollar-denominated RTS was caused by a remarkable strengthening of the ruble against the U.S. dollar.”

Top national lender Sberbank rose 0.88% to 102.39 rubles, supported by the national currency.

Alexander Kostyukov, an analyst at Veles Capital, said, “Next week trading on the Russian stock market will start only on Wednesday (February 24), and that is why market participants will follow dynamics of global indices.”

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	+0.88	102.39	1.856
Gazprom	-0.23	136.59	0.827
Norilsk Nickel	-0.29	8720.00	0.334
Lukoil	-0.43	2529.00	0.299
Surgutneftegas pref	-0.45	44.19	0.295

(76.3657 rubles – U.S. $1)

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