Russian stocks mixed on oil price rise, tough pandemic situation

MOSCOW, Jan 12 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market closed with a mixed trend on Tuesday with the RTS index growing on oil price increase and a stronger ruble, and the MOEX Russia Index retreating from records on the news about the pandemic, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index fell 0.31% to 3,471.65, and the RTS index grew 1.25% to 1,484.96.

"The MOEX Russia Index reset a historical record in the first half of the day after surging to 3,520.66. But it could not stay there. Besides, the index retreated below 3,500 after the middle of the session," Otkritie Broker analyst Andrei Kochetkov said.

Veles Capital analyst Yelena Kozhukhova said that a stronger ruble benefited the RTS index.

Kochetkov said that the European markets demonstrated mixed dynamics as the pandemic-related issues dominated the news. The number of people contracting the disease continued rising but the governments were doing their best to accelerate vaccination. At the same time, fraudster websites offering the vaccine have started to emerge, causing concern. 

The U.S. stock market futures indicated that the market could rise by 0.2% or more at the start of the session, Kochetkov said.

The oil trend was inspired by the statements of Saudi Arabia that it plans to reduce output additionally by 1 million barrels per day from February to March. But the less disciplined members of the OPEC+ agreement can fill the volume, Kochetkov said. The Brent and WTI prices edged up 1.5% in the middle of the session, reaching their highest since February 2020.

Kozhukhova said that the oil market was optimistic as the global economy is expected to recover.

The analyst said that Lukoil can hit a 6,000 ruble price tag ahead of a meeting of the board of directors, where the company will announce preliminary 2020 results and plans for 2021.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	-0.36	288.45	21.637
Gazprom	+0.09	227.8	13.821
Norilsk Nickel	-1.81	25814	9.578
Lukoil	+1.89	5705	9.317
Rosneft	-0.37	475	3.181

(74.5157 rubles – U.S. $1)

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