Russian stocks mixed on falling Gazprom, rising ruble

MOSCOW, Dec 24 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market closed mixed on Thursday as Gazprom, hit by the news that the U.S. is preparing new sanctions against the Nord Stream-2 pipeline, drove the MOEX Russia index down, while the RTS index increased thanks to a stronger ruble, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index fell 0.47% to 3,236.88, and the RTS index grew 0.85% to 1,378.33.

"The domestic market started the day higher but later sank in many respects due to the pressure on shares of Gazprom," Otkritie Broker analyst Andrei Kochetkov said.

Veles Capital analyst Yelena Kozhukhova said that the oil market was moderately negative -- the Brent and WTI futures lost about 0.5%.

She said that the ruble recovered after recent losses, rising against both the U.S. dollar and the euro.

Kochetkov said that the majority of European markets were closed, activity in London and Paris was low as investors were waiting for completion of the Brexit negotiations. The U.S. stocks futures firmed before the trading session’s start but political uncertainty does not allow the market to develop a strong trend, he said.

Kochetkov said that chemicals and the petrochemical sector were the Russian market outsiders. Oil and gas, and transport saw more moderate losses. Metals and mining and the consumer sector remained positive.

Kozhukhova said that M.Video rose 1.80% erasing recent losses. The analyst said that Mechel continued a rally with no fundamental reasons.

Below are the MOEX Russia Index’ five most active stocks on Thursday:

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Gazprom	-1.12	205.3	11.404
Sberbank	-0.36	269.12	10.785
Mechel	+16.08	78.7	3.488
MMK	+2.18	55.92	2.469
Norilsk Nickel	-0.56	23256	2.429

(75.4571 rubles – U.S. $1)

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