Stocks mixed as oil prices make U-turn on OPEC+ meeting

MOSCOW, Dec 2 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market closed mixed on Thursday as oil prices grew on rumors that OPEC plus members would postpone oil output increase plans, but started falling after the officials decided to proceed with an earlier plan, and later resumed growth on statements of officials, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index fell 0.30% 3,947.54, and RTS grew 0.18% to 1,690.13.

"The Russian market started the trading session with sales on growing uncertainty about the spread of new COVID-19 Omicron strain. But by the middle of the day the loss was eliminated. Rising oil was part of the reason why this happened," Andrei Kochetkov of Otkritie Research said.

Oil grew on market hopes that OPEC plus will confirm previous output plans, he said. Two sources told Reuters that the agreement participants would consider taking a pause before continuing to raise the production. One source even said that OPEC plus might cut output. After a meeting, when an earlier plan to raise the production was confirmed, oil started erasing gains, but resumed the rise as officials said that the partners could adjust their plans faster than usual.  

At the same time, fears about the Omicron strain pressured the European market, Kochetkov said.

Dmitry Postolenko, senior portfolio manager of Sber Asset Management, said that the U.S. stocks futures rose, and in general, there was no more panic on the foreign markets.

Kochetkov said that the oil and gas sector led the market rise as Brent recovered to above U.S. $70 per barrel. The rest of the sectors did not demonstrate pronounced dynamics.

Yandex plummeted 2.58%, correcting after recent growth. Gold producers were also the market outsiders, Yegor Zhilnikov of PSB Bank said.

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

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Gazprom	+1.48	350.31	23.992
Sberbank	+0.34	325.5	18.276
Lukoil	+2.2	6721.5	8.919
Rosneft	+1.52	578.6	5.509
Norilsk Nickel	+0.86	22140	4.497

(73.9746 – U.S. $1)    

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