Russian stocks slide on oil price fall, drone attack on Kremlin

MOSCOW, May 3 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market contracted on Wednesday because investors were upset by falling oil prices and a drone attack on the Kremlin, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index fell 1.86% to 2,532.42 and the RTS decreased 1.10% to 1,008.49.

“The rising ruble and the falling oil price exert pressure on the Russian market. Also, the G-7 plans to adjust the 11th package of sanctions against Russia very soon, even though sources say that it will most likely include measures that ensure earlier restrictions,” Andrei Kochetkov, leading analyst for global research at Otkritie Research, said.

The falling oil prices hit the shares of Russian oil and gas companies, he said. Rosneft shrank by 2.28% to 381.10 rubles, Tatneft fell by 3.27% to 384.10 rubles, and RussNeft decreased by 6.40% to 117 rubles.

Veles Capital analyst Yelena Kozhukhova said that the oil prices hurt the market mood as the Brent oil price lost more than 3% staying weak during the times of instability of the international economy. At the same time, the U.S. Department of Energy’s report may show a third consecutive week of contraction of oil reserves later in the day, she said.

“In the second half of the day, the market mood was under pressure from media reports about a drone attack on the Kremlin residence of the Russian president on Tuesday night and from statements about the Russian side’s readiness to retaliate, which exacerbated geopolitical tensions even further,” Kozhukhova said.

She also said that the ordinary and preferred shares of telecom giant Rostelecom outperformed the market and gained 0.11% to 65.03 rubles and 0.63% to 63.55 rubles, respectively. Rostelecom acquired a 49.9% stake in Inform, a telecommunications business of oil major Lukoil, and consolidated 100% in the asset.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	-1.90	238.00	12.753
Gazprom	-2.99	172.65	5.384
VTB	-3.95	0.021015	4.610
Lukoil	-1.31	4521.00	4.039
Mechel	-3.57	173.28	2.067

(79.9609 rubles – U.S. $1)

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