Russian stocks sag following oil price slide, ruble strengthening

MOSCOW, Oct 28 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market edged down on Thursday in light of pessimistic dynamics of crude oil and the strengthening ruble, but the correction can be only temporary, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index dropped 0.94% to 4,189.66 and the RTS decreased 0.58% to 1,880.37.

“The MOEX Russia Index fell by almost 1% to below 4,200. All industries of the Russian stock market demonstrated negative dynamics, but the IT sector. The dynamics were backed by volatile consolidation of the Brent oil price, and the strengthening ruble,” Alexei Golovinov, chief analyst at PSB Bank, said.

Russian energy stocks edged down by the end of the trading session. Gas giant Gazprom lost 2.71%, oil company Lukoil fell by 1.23%. Energy producer Surgutneftegas was among the biggest losers sliding by 4.67%.

The financial sector also closed in the negative territory despite publication of sound financial data by top bank Sberbank, whose net profit almost doubled in January–September.

Gold miners performed better than the market with Polymetal International adding 1.73% and Petropavlovsk growing by 0.34%.

Veles Broker analyst Yelena Kozhukhova said that the fall of the Russian market can be seen as only slight correction, and the dynamics can reverse upwards.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Gapzrom	-2.71	352.37	29.082
Sberbank	-2.18	363.25	18.732
Lukoil	-1.23	7233.5	9.506
Yandex	+5.2	5863.6	7.297
RUSAL	-0.55	74.01	5.364

(69.8104 rubles – U.S. $1)

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