Russian stocks mixed on Brent rebound, Chinese data, weak ruble

MOSCOW, Jan 18 (PRIME) -- Russian stocks closed mixed on Monday, as the MICEX rose on an oil price rebound, while the RTS was depressed by the ruble depreciation against the U.S. dollar, analysts said.

The MICEX rose 0.87% to 1,662.43 and the RTS decreased 0.93% to 646.90.

“A little improvement in sentiment was secured by stabilization of oil prices – Brent price rebounded to $29 per barrel after a slump to lows of below $28 on the news that the anti-Iranian sanctions had been lifted,” Igor Kovalyov, an analyst at broker company InstaForex, said.

Vasily Tanurkov, an analyst at investment company Veles Capital, said that the lifting of Iranian sanctions did not lead to a significant downward correction of oil quotations, because investors understand that country’s exports may be postponed or supplies may grow gradually, while OPEC’s revised oil production forecasts also supported trading floors.

China’s positive statistics of the real estate market, consumer demand and exports was another factor, which backed Russian stocks, Tanurkov said.

The fall of the dollar-denominated RTS was technically sped up by the ruble depreciation.

Major liquid securities rebounded after a fall on January 15, although ruble depreciation against the U.S. dollar still puts the financial sector under pressure, Kovalyov said.

Preferred shares of Russian oil producer Surgutneftegas, which has significant reserves in foreign currency, increased 4.65% to 45 rubles, and metals exporter Norilsk Nickel grew 2.98% to 8,290 rubles on a weak ruble.

The Moscow Exchange, another beneficiary of the ruble weakening, rose 4.11% to 90.15 rubles.

Top lender Sberbank fell 1.28% to 86.15 rubles on a weak national currency.

Gas giant Gazprom decreased 0.4% to 124.60 after breaking up with the national company of Turkmenistan, after 25 years of cooperation, and posting a 2 billion ruble net loss under International Financial Reporting Standards for July–September.

Electronics retailer M.Video went down 0.36% to 251 rubles after posting a 5.5% drop of sales in 2015.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	-1.28	86.15	8.737
Gazprom	-0.40	124.60	4.488
VTB	+2.98	8290.00	3.133
Lukoil	+0.67	2112.10	2.774
Norilsk Nickel	+3.11	9940.00	1.577

(76.5650 rubles – U.S. $1)

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