Stocks decrease on mounting threats of anti-Russian sanctions

MOSCOW, Feb 13 (PRIME) -- Russian stocks edged down on Wednesday despite an encouraging foreign background pressured by mounting sanctions threats, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index dropped 1.88% to 2,485.76 and the RTS fell 2.03% to 1,190.79.

“Uncertainty is the most negative factor for markets… The Russian stock market’s way has become less clear due to the news on coordination of new restrictive measures by the U.S. and Europe concerning the Kerch Strait incident,” Otkritie Broker analyst Andrei Kochetkov said.

The Financial Times reported on Tuesday that “Western nations are close to agreeing new sanctions against Russia in a coordinated push aimed at punishing Moscow for its aggression towards Ukraine in the Sea of Azov.”

Veles Capital analysts said that the domestic benchmarks rested in the negative territory despite a favorable external environment.

The most liquid stocks of the country’s biggest lenders Sberbank and VTB Bank and hydrocarbon producers Rosneft and Gazprom lost around 2% due to the wariness, Kochetkov also said.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	-2.37	213.9	18.430
Lukoil	-1.62	5351	4.030
Gazprom	-2.69	159.27	3.541
Rosneft	-3.11	401.6	2.935
Moscow Exchange	-1.27	88.8	2.338

(65.7147 rubles – U.S. $1)

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