Russian stocks see session of losses amid coronavirus pandemic

MOSCOW, Mar 23 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market fell on Monday following the negative dynamics of the global stocks and energy exchanges, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index lost 3.36% to 2,253.35 and the RTS dropped 4.38% to 883.78.

“The MOEX Russia and the RTS indices edged down moderately, which does not exclude a possible return of the benchmarks to growth later this week,” Veles Broker analyst Yelena Kozhukhova said.

The sentiment of the world’s stock and commodity exchanges was discouraging on Monday, but the decrease was limited as compared with previous slumps, she added.

X5 Retail Group was among the top performers adding 5.84% as food retailers have become safety assets amid the spread of coronavirus.

Otkritie Broker analyst Andrei Kochetkov said that oil companies Rosneft and Lukoil and national flagship air carrier Aeroflot were among the biggest losers due to crude prices seen at their multiyear lows and reduction of flights.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	-6.3	183.37	29.394
Gazprom	-4.49	168.35	18.570
Lukoil	-6.64	4175.5	14.454
Rosneft	-4.78	274	9.693
Norilsk Nickel	-0.72	16.240	7.195

(78.0443 rubles – U.S. $1)

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