Russian stocks plummet on coronavirus woes, oil price contraction

MOSCOW, Oct 28 (PRIME) – The Russian stocks dived on Wednesday together with all key foreign bourses on new coronavirus quarantines and a significant contraction of oil prices, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index fell 2.52% to 2,693.46 and the RTS decreased 4.69% to 1,078.29.

“All key stock floors were deeply in the red today as the quarantine measures in Europe strengthened and on reports about the lack of hospital beds in the U.S. The American indices started the day with a 3% fall, while the indices of the E.U. countries shrank by more than 4%. Such a negative market mood was last seen in the peak days of the September correction. The MSCI Emerging Markets index is losing more than 2%,” Freedom Finance analyst Valery Yemelyanov said.

Yelena Kozhukhova, analyst at Veles Capital, said that the closest futures for the Brent and WTI blends sped up their fall and lost 5.5–6% late in the evening. Prices for the international blend edged dangerously close to the October low of U.S. $38.83 per barrel, and may lose $1.5–2 more.

Following sales in oil, the ruble started losing its positions against the U.S. dollar pushing the RTS Index down lower than the MOEX Russia Index, she said.

Yemelyanov also said that fertilizer producers Acron and PhosAgro bucked the trend growing by 1.27% to 6,220 rubles and by 1.90% to 2,845 rubles, respectively. Fertilizer producers have been acting as a safe haven on the volatile market for several days. The market may see them as an optimal hedge against a short-term devaluation of the ruble, he said.

Kozhukhova also said that preferred shares of oil company Surgutneftegas gained 0.11% to 37.255 rubles today as it looks like they are trying to return to the role of a defensive asset during ruble depreciation.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	-1.35	204.84	12.932
Gazprom	-3.40	153.79	12.463
Lukoil	-2.61	4016.00	7.675
Norilsk Nickel	-3.11	18554.00	6.735
Yandex	-1.17	4547.20	5.410

(76.4556 rubles – U.S. $1)

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