Russian stocks mixed in thin trade as western floors closed

MOSCOW, Mar 25 (PRIME) -- Russian stocks closed mixed in thin trade on Good Friday, while the MICEX was almost flat amid no drivers, and the RTS was technically supported by a stronger ruble, analysts said.

The MICEX fell 0.02% to 1,866.23 and the RTS increased 1.77% to 862.22.

“Russian stocks were traded flat on the back of no trading in Europe and the U.S. Yesterday’s rebound in oil prices, which took place after the Russian stock market closed, only led to a rise of the ruble and the dollar-denominated RTS, while the ruble-denominated MICEX was traded close to yesterday's closing levels,” Vasily Tanurkov, deputy head of Veles Capital’s stock market research department, said.

Sofya Kirsanova, an analyst at Raiffeisen Capital, said that no trade in Brent crude oil futures also supported the ruble.

Vitaly Manzhos, a senior analyst at Bank Obrazovanie, said that the trading volumes were low, because many global trading floors were closed on Good Friday.

Electronic goods and household appliances retailer M.Video rose 1.95% to 261.5 rubles on statements made by its management that the company plans to increase the share of online sales, Kirsanova said.

Construction company Mostotrest fell 14.33% to 102.8 rubles in correction after rising 52.87% on Thursday, when it signed a 96.9 billion ruble contract to take part in construction of a bridge across the Kerch Strait, Manzhos said.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	+0.96	109.10	3.599
Gazprom	+0.16	146.04	1.118
Lukoil	-0.29	2607.50	0.854
Rosneft	-0.10	304.50	0.576
Norilsk Nickel	+0.29	9046.00	0.520

(68.9328 rubles – U.S. $1)

End