Russian Stocks Follow Oil Lower Amid Weakening Prices and Lack of Buying from Vnesheconombank

Strategic Insights -

The Russian stock market declined on Tuesday on light volume, with major stocks shedding 0.3-1.8% as oil prices weakened. Despite gains on European exchanges and in US futures, investors remained cautious, awaiting share purchases from Vnesheconombank (VEB). The MICEX index dropped 1.21% to 606.37 points, and the RTS index fell 1.91% to 630.53. Gazprom Neft (RTS: SIBN) was a notable exception, rising 0.9% on the MICEX.

Key Takeaways:

  • The Russian stock market declined on Tuesday, with the MICEX index losing 1.21% to 606.37 points and the RTS index falling 1.91% to 630.53.
  • Most stocks on the MICEX suffered losses, with VTB (RTS: VTBR) down 0.6%, Lukoil (RTS: LKOH) down 1.8%, and Rosneft (RTS: ROSN) down 1.6%.
  • Gazprom (RTS: GAZP) led advancers, rising 0.3% after publishing better-than-expected IFRS results for the second quarter, with net profit increasing 192% to 300.318 billion rubles.
  • Trading volume was low, with $0.777 million traded on the RTS and 2.6 billion rubles traded on the MICEX as of 12:30 p.m.
  • Analysts attributed the lack of buying from VEB and uncertainty about the economy as major factors contributing to the decline.
  • Uncertainty about the state of the economy has persuaded investors to put off decisions on their portfolios until next year, said Olma analyst Anton Startsev.

Statistics:

  • The MICEX index declined 1.21% to 606.37 points.
  • The RTS index fell 1.91% to 630.53.
  • Volume on the RTS totaled $0.777 million as of 12:30 p.m.
  • Volume on MICEX totaled 2.6 billion rubles as of 12:30 p.m.
  • Gazprom Neft (RTS: SIBN) rose 0.9% on MICEX.
  • Gazprom (RTS: GAZP) gained 0.3% after publishing IFRS results.

Sources:

  • Interfax, Dec 30: "Russian stocks follow oil lower on light volume"
  • GAZP IFRS results (unspecified date)
  • Anton Startsev, Olma analyst (unspecified date)
  • Yevgeny Tupikin, BKS financial advisor (unspecified date)
  • Kseniya Polyak, Univer analyst (unspecified date)