28 April 2004 08:09
Russian oil stocks end up, rest of pack down
MOSCOW. April 28 (Interfax) - Trading on the Russian stock market Wednesday took place amid oil stocks rising in
reaction to world oil prices, while the remaining blue chips ended the day in the minus column, lead by MMC Norilsk
Nickel.
Oil stocks gained 1.3%-3.6% on the RTS, the other stocks losing 0.2%-2% due to the high cost of available money
(rates for ruble loans on the interbank loan market jumped to 40% per year Wednesday evening), and Norilsk Nickel stock
dropped 6.8% to $64.05 per share, a result of sharp price drops for nonferrous metals, particularly nickel.
"Support is good for oil stocks at present, though because of very
high ruble costs at the end of the month [overnight rates on the
Market operators figure that even though the market is not confident and there is a ruble liquidity squeeze, the
month's remaining trading days could see speculators increase the number of closed 'short' positions,
leading to a little quotation growth.
Uniastrum bank trader Alexei Khmelenko told Interfax that many speculators are opting to close out short positions
this week, so as not to be holding them over the long 1st-of-May holiday weekend.
week and in the first half of May. The next resistance level for the
market is the 705-point mark on the RTS index, and the next milepost
interbank loan market reached 30% per year on Wednesday], serious upward movement should not be expected before
May," Khmelenko said.
In the coming two or three months, the market will most likely see prices rise-the ruble liquidity situation getting
back to normal in May- and the "cut-off season" will arrive as several major companies close shareholder
registers [Sberbank on May 1, Lukoil and Gazprom on May 7 and Mosenergo on May 13]," he said.
Senior IK BELES Capital trader Alexei Nikogosov said the present quotation jump could be termed a technical
correction aver the slide of the last two and a half weeks. "With register-closing dates approaching buying will
maintain, and against this backdrop we might gain a bit this
[will be] 720-735 points. I think that we could test these marks over the coming weeks," he said.
It is still too early to talk about changes to the ascendant trend on the market for over a year, it is hard to break
the trend so quickly, even with Yukos's fly in the ointment," Nikogosov said.
their June 28 meeting endorse the decision to split up the company,
which will be a turning point in the process of its reformation,"
"What direction the market takes in May will depend not only on ruble liquidity, but also on the U.S. Federal
Reserve's rates position, which has a serious impact on the disposition of forces on the currency market. The
dollar has been gaining of late, and if this trend continues the movement of funds from the stock market to the currency
[market] will continue, having a negative effect on stock quotations," he added.
Stock in RAO Unified Energy System of Russia (UES) ended Wednesday down 1.2%, Rostelecom 0.2%, Sberbank of Russia
0.3%. The weakest stock was Mosenergo's (down 2%), which Zenit Bank analyst Sergei Suverov said would be explained
by the Mosenergo management decision to not buy up 10% of its stock, as well as the board of directors confirmation of
an acquisition price 30% below market for stock from shareholders unsatisfied with the company's restructuring.
"All this is negative short-term news for the capitalization of the capital's energy system, and it is
obvious that investors will opt no to sell stock for six cents per share. The Mosenergo shareholders will at
Suverov said.
The oil stock leaders were Sibneft (up 3.6%) and Yukos (2.4%), offsetting sharp losses in previous days.
Aggregate trading volume on the RTS classic stock market came to $37.962 million, $17.364 of that involving
direct-bid deals, while turnover on the MICEX stock section reached 20.408 billion rubles.
Prices for Gazprom stock on the St. Petersburg Stock Exchange ended Wednesday up at 60.2864 rubles (+0.7%). Trading
came to more than 33.257 shares.
The composite S&P/RUX ruble index ticked up 0.16% to 811.52 points, the dollar index 0.62% to 167.53 points. The
RTS index gained 0.95% to 670.53 points, while the MICEX stock index slipped 1.38% to 599.15 points. [RU EUROPE EEU ASIA
EMRG STX MET ENR ELG TEL E BNK INSI] cf
[Interfax] |
RUSSIA IN FACTS
