MOSCOW, Mar 15 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market closed lower on Thursday hit by continuing political tensions with Britain and an almost 10% plunge of mobile operator MegaFon, analysts said.
The MOEX Russia Index fell 0.12% to 2,272.49 and the RTS lost 0.31% to 1,247.28.
“The crisis in relations with Great Britain again prevented the Russian stock market from finding growth drivers. However, the lack of a strong reaction of the domestic government helped restrain pessimists,” Otkritie Broker analyst Andrei Kochetkov said.
He added that the market has calmed down fast after the ex-spy poisoning story spurred fears about possible repatriation of Russian citizens’ cash as the British government’s discussed a freeze of their accounts.
Raiffeisen Capital analyst Sofya Kirsanova said that MegaFon was among the biggest losers on the back of a weak 2017 financial report and its board of directors’ decision to pay no dividends for the year. The stock slid 9.03% to 524.9 rubles.
Grocery retailer Magnit outperformed the market adding 3.6% to 5,149 rubles after second biggest bank VTB Bank said its affiliate closed the acquisition of 29.1% in Magnit from its founder Sergei Galitsky.
Rosbank, a Russian subsidiary of French banking group Societe Generale, soared 1.4% to 57.9 rubles on the news its IFRS net profit for 2017 tripled to 10.4 billion rubles.
Below are the MOEX Russia Index’s five most active stocks on Thursday:
| Company | Change, % | Last price, rbl | Trading volume, bln rbl |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sberbank | -3.04% | 254.51 | 20.242 |
| Gazprom | -0.4% | 138.25 | 4.764 |
| Lukoil | +1.55% | 3800 | 3.551 |
| Magnit | +3.6% | 5149 | 3.140 |
| MegaFon | -9.03% | 524.9 | 2.114 |
(56.9372 rubles – U.S. $1)
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