US statistics, weak oil, ruble push Russian stocks down

MOSCOW, Feb 5 (PRIME) -- Russian stocks decreased on Friday on profit taking after a surge on Thursday, depressed by U.S. labor market statistics, weak oil and a falling ruble, analysts said.

The MICEX fell 0.41% to 1,780.59 and the RTS decreased 1.75% to725.91.

Sofya Kirsanova, an analyst at Raiffeisen Capital, said Russian stocks declined in correction after a rally on Thursday and were also depressed by a Brent price weakening.

Mikhail Abramov, an analyst at Veles Capital, said, “The Russian market increased on rising oil during the first half of the day, after which it just did a 180 on U.S. data. The U.S. posted employment figures excluding the agricultural sector, which were significantly lower than expected.”

“Almost all markets – raw material markets, as well as stock ones immediately fell after that, and the Russian market was no exception.”

Lower employment in the U.S. means lower demand for oil.

Yury Kravchenko, an analyst at Veles Capital, said, “U.S data on unemployment likely disappointed investors on the oil market: the unemployment was lower than expected, and now any revival of the U.S. economy can be considered as a factor of a further increase of the key rate.” A stronger dollar will make risky assets less attractive.

Igor Kovalyov, an analyst at InstaForex, said that a ruble weakening against the U.S. dollar particularly depressed the dollar-denominated RTS.

Metals and mining giant Mechel rose 2.42% to 65.54 rubles per common share and jumped 4.74% to 43.33 rubles per preferred share after the company reached agreements over debt restructuring with major lenders, Vitaly Manzhos, an analyst at Obrazovanie Bank, said.

Flagship carrier Aeroflot and oil company Bashneft, which are among the companies which may be privatized in the next couple of years, surged 4.39% to 57.30 rubles and 5.71% to 2,192.5 rubles, respectively, on statements that both Russian and foreign investors are interested in privatization of large state companies.

Below are the MICEX’ five most active stocks on Friday:

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	-0.38	97.20	7.915
Gazprom	-0.47	134.43	3.287
Lukoil	+1.59	2594.00	2.480
Rosneft	-0.51	281.55	1.942
Norilsk Nickel	+0.07	9005.00	1.499

(76.4609 rubles – U.S. $1)

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