Russians stocks mixed on decreasing oil prices, trade war news

MOSCOW, Sep 3 (PRIME) – The MOEX Russia Index closed almost flat, and the RTS index declined on Tuesday as oil prices were under a pressure, and details of the U.S.–China trade negotiations discouraged investors from the purchase of risky assets, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index firmed 0.04% to 2,774.20, and the RTS index fell 0.44% to 1,303.49.

“Edging down of the Russian indices looks quite appropriate after four sessions of growth in a row,” Yaroslav Kabakov, director for strategies at investment company Finam, said.

Yelena Kozhukhova, analyst at Veles Capital, said that the external background was moderately negative as the Brent oil price fall accelerated to 1.5–2.0% on the back of investors’ worries over demand for the resource. The European markets were in the red zone.

Andrei Kochetkov, senior analyst at Otkritie Broker, said that the news on the U.S.–China trade negotiations was negative as China sent a claim over the latest U.S. tariffs to the World Trade Organization (WTO). Besides, U.S. media reported that there was no agreement on the date of negotiations start and the initial positions of the sides. “All this indicates that capital will continue flight to the most liquid instruments,” he said.

Kochetkov said that deals with the common shares of Surgutneftegas accounted for about 25% of all transactions in Moscow as of the middle of the day. Kozhukhova said that Surgutneftegas continued to grow on the news that the company will establish an affiliate to invest in securities.

She said that Sberbank corrected downwards after maximums reached at the beginning of August.

Kochetkov said that shares of metals producers and retailers were under pressure.

Kabakov said that investors will be cautious later in the week ahead of a meeting of the board of directors of the Russian central bank but growth can continue if any progress is seen in the U.S.–China negotiations.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Surgutneftegas	+15.17	35.5	15.850
Surgutneftegas pref	+12.59	38.055	15.487
Sberbank	-1.18	224	9.969
Gazprom	-1.13	231.02	4.780
Norilsk Nickel	-0.97	16340	4.103

(66.6235 rubles – U.S. $1)

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