Russian stocks shrink on negative backdrop, oil rally stalling

MOSCOW, Oct 29 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market fell on Friday on negative foreign markets backdrop and oil prices having lost their rally potential, as well as profit taking in all major trading sections, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index dropped 0.95% to 4,150.00 and the RTS decreased 1.94% to 1,843.83.

“Russian stock indices were trading in negative territory for the fourth session in a row. The reason for the continuation of the downward movement lies in the predominantly negative external background and the slippage of the rally in the oil market,” Nikolai Pereslavsky of CMS Institute said.

“Correction sentiment prevailed on global stock exchanges on Friday and was especially pronounced on the Russian market. The Moscow Exchange and RTS indices accelerated their downward movement by the end of trading, having received no support from abroad,” Yelena Kozhukhova, analyst at Veles Capital, said.

Profit taking continued on the Russian market with no clear fundamental signals, Kozhukhova said.

According to PSB Bank analyst Alexei Golovinov, apart from the worsening price situation on the oil market and risks of correction on the commodity markets, the next week, which is going to be full of significant news, also contributed to a stronger trend of profit taking.

Except for telecom companies and the transport industry, all key sectors suffered notable losses today, Golovinov said.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Gazprom	-0.93	349.94	23.993
Sberbank	-2.53	356.11	17.730
Lukoil	-0.67	7239.5	9.056
Yandex	+0.46	5850	5.926
VTB	-1.62	0.052895	4.529

(70.5207 rubles – U.S. $1)

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