Russian stocks stay almost flat on Christmas lull on foreign bourses

MOSCOW, Dec 25 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market remained almost flat on Monday because the Western stock floors were closed for the Christmas Day celebrations, while the RTS Index outperformed the MOEX Russia Index slightly following ruble growth, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index edged up 0.21% to 3,099.02 and the RTS increased 0.58% to 1,063.67.

“The trade volatility wasn’t high today, and the MOEX Russia Index traded near Friday’s closing, while the RTS Index gained 0.58% because of the ruble strengthening,” Ivan Kapustyansky from managing company Pervaya said.

The MOEX Russia Index would likely remain at this level until the end of the year because investors would only slightly adjust their positions instead of expanding them or taking their profits before the New Year holidays, Kapustyansky said.

Otkritie Research’s expert Andrei Kochetkov said that there were no external signals for the Russian market during the day, which caused the market to switch into consolidation.

“The Russian stock market did not show any significant changes at the end of the trading session on Monday as it received no signals from the external background,” Veles Capital’s analyst Yelena Kozhukhova said.

The Western bourses were closed for the catholic Christmas. Market activity should grow slightly on Tuesday after the return of the U.S. investors. The day is still unlikely to bring forward any important macroeconomic data. The MOEX Russia Index and the RTS Index consolidated close to the resistance levels of 3,100 and 1,065, respectively, and they did not show any serious movements without the external signals, Kozhukhova said.

She also said that the shares of internet company Yandex were among the gain leaders rising by 3.67% to 2,380 rubles following the central bank’s decision to register the issues of the company’s ordinary and preferred shares. Registration means that Yandex’ reorganization is coming to an end, she said.

The shares of fertilizer producer PhosAgro shrank by 3.04% to 6,659 rubles after a dividend cut-off, she said.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	+0.11	271.60	9.615
Yandex	+3.67	2380.00	9.263
Surgutneftegas prefs	+1.39	57.64	4.788
Mechel	-0.47	310.17	4.594
Magnit	+2.73	6862.50	3.602

(91.9389 rubles – U.S. $1)

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