Russian stocks mixed on dollar, oil dynamics, Gazprom’s lower divs

MOSCOW, May 17 (PRIME) -- Russian stocks closed mixed on Tuesday on volatility of oil prices which followed the U.S. dollar rate dynamics and the news that gas giant Gazprom will pay lower dividends for 2015 than investors expected, analysts said.

The MICEX fell 0.33% to 1,909.00 and the RTS increased 0.28% to 931.73.

The Russian stock market closed mixed “on the back of dollar fluctuations in anticipation of API’s statistics on expectations that oil reserves will fall significantly,” Veles Capital analyst Alexander Kostyukov said.

The ruble strengthened against the dollar on rising oil and supported the dollar-denominated RTS, Kostyukov said.

Finam analyst Bogdan Zvarich attributed the mixed close of domestic stocks to a revival on the energy resources market as Brent oil increased to about U.S. $49.4 per barrel.

Kostyukov said the main factor which depressed Russian stocks during the day was the news that Gazprom will pay 50% of its adjusted net profit under Russian Accounting Standards (RAS) in dividends for 2015 instead of paying 50% of a net profit under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) for the period, which is much higher.

Oil company Bashneft rose 3.09% to 2,932 rubles after Russian President Vladimir Putin allowed the government to sell the entire state stake in the company, Igor Kovalyov, an analyst at InstaForex group of companies, said.

Preferred stock of oil and gas producer Surgutneftegas increased 3.13% to 42.385 rubles as the company’s board of directors recommended paying 6.92 rubles per preferred share in dividends for 2015, Bank Obrazovanie’s Senior Analyst Vitaly Manzhos said.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Gazprom	-2.84	153.58	9.954
Sberbank	+0.09	122.71	8.836
Lukoil	+0.36	2671.50	2.705
Surgutneftegas pref	+3.13	42.385	2.588
Magnit	-0.83	9352.00	1.734

(64.8895 rubles – U.S. $1)

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