Russian stocks mixed pressured by oil price testing new lows

MOSCOW, Mar 23 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market closed mixed on Thursday pressured by oil price consolidation around new four-months lows, analysts said.

The MICEX eased 0.51% to 2,051.04 and the RTS increased 0.11% to 1,124.35.

“The market tried to rise in early trade, but sellers managed to regain control by midday. Meanwhile, the external background remained positive enough,” Otkritie Broker analyst Andrei Kochetkov said.

InstaForex analyst Igor Kovalyov said that Russian stocks are waiting for new drivers, restrained by the Brent oil price consolidating below $52. But a better global environment prevents massive sales, he added.

“Although the (Brent) oil price managed to close above $50 on the previous day, it continued testing the psychologically important level putting pressure on investors,” Raiffeisen Capital analyst Sofya Kirsanova said.

Uncut diamond mining giant ALROSA was among the market leaders on the news it boosted uncut diamond sales by 30% in January-March and management’s statement that 50% of the IFRS net profit may be paid in dividends for 2016. The stock added 3.62% to 96.21 rubles during the day.

Federal Grid Company of Unified Energy Systems (FGC UES) slid by 2.87% to 0.189 rubles and RusHydro fell by 1.5% to 0.943 after both power companies reported worse than expected 2016 IFRS results of a 60% and 46% rise in the net profit, respectively.

Metal stocks also underperformed due to the strengthening ruble: steelmaker Novolipetsk Steel (NLMK) sagged by 2.13% to 110.5 rubles and metallurgic giant Severstal dropped by 1.41% to 824.5 rubles, while gold producers Polyus and Polymetal fell by 0.82% to 4,333 rubles and 1.47% to 739 rubles, respectively.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	+0.75%	164.15	6.332
Gazprom	-0.5%	130.99	5.214
FGC UES	-2.87%	0.189	2.437
Lukoil	-1.75%	3,066.00	2.314
ALROSA	+3.62	96.21	2.272

(57.6360 rubles – U.S. $1)

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