Russian stocks mixed on oil price pressure, rising ruble

MOSCOW, Sep 12 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market closed mixed thanks to an uncertain global environment, weakening crude prices and a strengthening ruble, analysts said on Thursday.

The MOEX Russia Index fell 0.61% to 2,799.99 and the RTS rose 0.47% to 1,361.05.

“The Russian stock market started the day positively thanks to news on mutual tariff trade-offs between China and the U.S. However, the sentiment worsened by the middle of the day on forecasts of a high recession probability in Germany,” Otkritie Broker analyst Andrei Kochetkov said.

Veles Broker analyst Yelena Kozhukhova added that the Russian stock market traded mixed at the end of the session in light of ruble strengthening and a vague external environment.

The Brent oil price fell to U.S. $60 per barrel on concerns that the U.S. may soften its sanctions regime against Iran, which pressured domestic energy stocks. Lukoil, Rosneft and Gazprom were seen lower, Kochetkov also said.

Surgutneftegas was again among the top performers, but there is still no news that could explain such focused dynamics.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	-0.06	234.57	9.130
Surgutneftegas, common	+1.1	36.395	8.518
Gazprom	-0.93	232.88	6.769
Lukoil	-1.99	5429.5	4.649
Surgutneftegas, preferred	+2.03	37.14	4.087

(65.4321 rubles – U.S. $1)

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