Russian stocks mostly in red on EU’s 6 sanctions package release

MOSCOW, Jun 3 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market was falling most of the session and showed no single dynamics at the end on the official release of the E.U.’s six sanctions package, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index fell by 1.37% to 2,308.03 and the RTS edged up by 0.29% to 1,199.55.

“The Russian stock market … was still under pressure of the sanctions news and external background,” Veles Broker analyst Yelena Kozhukhova said.

The E.U. released the six package of anti-Russia sanctions, which includes a partial oil embargo, disconnection of Sberbank and Credit Bank of Moscow from the SWIFT, as well as sanctions against Kamaz, Sollers, and top executives of Severstal and Yandex, among others.

The U.S. stock market was in the red prior to the Russia’s closing, with the three main indices losing 1.1–2.7% on corporate and macroeconomic news, while the E.U. market showed moderately negative sentiments on revised down statistics for business activity in Germany and the E.U., according to Kozhukhova.

Yandex lost 5.97% as its co-founder Arkady Volozh was hit by the E.U. sanctions and decided to step down as the company’s CEO and left the board of directors, Kozhukhova said.

Severstal was an outsider of the session and lost 12.85% because its founder Alexei Mordashov was included in the E.U. sanctions list, Freedom Finance analysts said.

The metals sector was the weakest among industry sectors during the session because investors now expect that other metals companies may be hit by future sanctions, Andrei Kochetkov, leading analyst at Otkritie Investment, said.

Polymetal and Mechel lost 9.6% and 5.75%, respectively. MMK and NLMK lost 5.36% and 4.58%, respectively.

RusHydro was a growth leader rising 7.08% on expectations of the 2021 dividends announcement, Freedom Finance analysts said.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Severstal	-12.85	711	8.626
Gazprom	+0.34	297	5.532
Sberbank	+0.18	119.21	4.067
Yandex	-5.97	1497	2.056
MMK	-5.36	33.02	1.361

(61.5750 rubles – U.S. $1)

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