Stocks fall anew on Russian military threat, possible sanctions

MOSCOW, Dec 13 (PRIME) -- The stock market continued its contraction on Monday on Russia’s threat to find a military solution to its relations with the West, while the E.U. said it was considering new sanctions, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index fell 3.77% to 3,618.31 and the RTS decreased 3.98% to 1,548.09.

“The geopolitical uncertainty continues exerting pressure on the Russian shares as it scares foreign investors away in the first place. This can be proven by the sales of securities that are usually in demand from foreigners, mainly the ordinary shares of Gazprom and Sberbank,” Dmitry Babin, stock market expert at BCS World of Investment, said.

Veles Capital analyst Yelena Kozhukhova said that Gazprom plunged by 4.41% to 317.35 rubles showing the worst dynamics among its peers on a  statement by German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock that the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline. cannot be commissioned as it does not comply with the energy legislation.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said that since the West does not seem to move towards fulfilling Russia’s demand of security guarantees from NATO Moscow’s response will be militaristic. E.U. representative Josep Borrell said that the union was considering new anti-Russian sanctions together with the U.S. and the U.K., though no decisions had been made, Babin said.

Kozhukhova also said that the geopolitical uncertainty was the main reason behind the fall of the MOEX Russia Index the lowest point since July and for contraction of the RTS Index close to its lowest in November.

“No certainty about a possible summit between Russia and the NATO countries has emerged, which makes investors nervous. Besides that, Belarus said that it may suspend natural gas transit to Europe if it finds no other measures to retaliate against the sanctions,” Kozhukhova said.

Fertilizer producer Acron lost 10.04% to 12,102 rubles while steelmaker Severstal contracted by 6.81% to 1,487 rubles due to dividend cut-offs, she said.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	-5.00	282.57	38.081
Gazprom	-4.41	317.35	36.701
Lukoil	-3.47	6390.00	8.924
Norilsk Nickel	-4.41	20922.00	6.494
Yandex	-2.41	4551.60	5.648

(73.6059 rubles – U.S. $1)

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