Russian stocks seen mixed amid nervous external environment

MOSCOW, May 19 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market has interrupted its upward movement and closed mixed as investors are starting to pay more attention to the global environment, which appeared to be nervous on Thursday, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index fell 0.36% to 2,436.57 and the RTS increased 2.73% to 1,245.71.

“The Russian stock market has interrupted a 4-day row of sessions of growth. The MOEX Russia Index demonstrated no certain dynamics and spent the day near the 2,430 mark. From our point of view, it was mainly linked to a worsening global environment and a lack of significant news that could have encouraged local stocks,” Alexei Golovinov, chief analyst at PSB Bank, said.

The transportation sector was among the worst performers with substantial sales in the shares of Far-Eastern Shipping Company, or FESCO, and railway operator Globaltrans following previous days’ advance, Golovinov said.

The financial sector was among the main losers as well. Investors actively sold banking group TCS Group on the back of the news that no dividend payments are planned for 2022, he added.

Veles Broker analyst Yelena Kozhukhova said that investors seem to be paying more attention to the external environment thanks to the absence of fresh anti-Russian sanctions, while the global markets are demonstrating nervousness.

The dynamics of both U.S. and European stock exchanges was negative, and the oil prices gained around 1%, she added.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Gazprom	+0.69	266.68	6.652
Sberbank	+0.38	125.6	4.283
Surgutneftegas pref	+5.08	34.99	2.003
Lukoil	-1.52	4415.5	1.016
PIK Group	-4.46	572.2	918

(63.5643 rubles – U.S. $1)

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