Russian stocks mixed on profit taking ahead of weekend

MOSCOW, Sep 1 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market ended the main trading on Friday with mixed dynamics as investors took profit before the weekend, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index rose 0.10% to 3,231.35 and the RTS decreased 0.35% to 1,055.43.

“The Russian market failed to move to growth in the first half of the day. The MOEX Russia Index rose to 3,232.92, but failed to renew the annual maximum. Selling prevails, which can be explained by Friday's factor of closing weekly positions in conditions of high unpredictability,” Otkritie Broker’s leading analyst for global research Andrei Kochetkov said.

Alexei Golovinov, chief analyst at PSB Bank, said that the MOEX Russia Index did not show strong dynamics today, but some shares were in demand.

According to Senior Trader at managing company Alfa-Capital Vladislav Silayev, the buying was paused due to the upcoming weekend.

“The Russian stock market on Friday by the end of the main trading did not show significant changes, consolidating near the local maximums,” Veles Capital analyst Yelena Kozhukhova said.

Transneft's preferred shares jumped on Friday following reports that the board of directors may consider a 100 fold stock split at its September meeting to boost liquidity, the analyst said.

Unipro’s shares outperformed the market probably due to the forthcoming inclusion in the calculation of the MOEX Russia Index and the RTS, she also said.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Transneft	+3.46	137,450	13.758
Globaltruck	+71.69	570	11.714
Lukoil	-0.1	6,823	4.342
Sberbank	+0.06	265	4.338
Unipro	+6.39	2,531	4.002

(96.3344 rubles – U.S. $1)

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