01 June 2004 07:03
Panic subsides on stock market
Yukos plunged over 10% to $6.99 on the RTS and below 200 rubles on
the MICEX. Other blue chips lost 1.6% to 5.4%, with the exception of
MOSCOW. June 1 (Interfax) - The stock market panic roused by increased sales of Yukos shares and other blue chips,
after Monday's court ruling invalidating a share issue used in the failed Yukos/Sibneft merger, subsided on Tuesday
afternoon and Yukos shares found support at around $7.
Sibneft, which remained at Monday's level.
The RTS stock index dropped 4.06% to 557.45 points.
The MICEX composite fell 4.19% to 512.99.
Yukos saw its first wave of selling in the morning, after which
only win from the court decision. Gazprom added oil to the fire,
announcing its readiness to buy Yukos assets if they go up for sale,
The main stock indexes fell to a five-month low. The S&P/RUX composite ruble index fell 3.23% to 686.90, and the
index in dollars was off 3.28% to 141.17.
Once Yukos shares had dipped below $7, sales eased and few wanted
to push the prices down further, said Alexnader Baranov, an asset
there was some stabilization, but when trading opened in London foreign investors started to sell and the shares were
pushed down to under $7, said Yevgeny Volkov of MDM Bank.
risks are still very high," he said.
The court ruling leaves Yukos with no obstacles to a de-merger with
"Demand for Sibneft also disappeared, although the company should
which canceled out any optimism among investors," he said.
manager at the Prospekt brokerage. "The panic subsided quite quickly, but it cannot be said that the selling has
stopped because investment
The next level of support for the market will be 530 points on the
RTS, although it could be that after such a slump a local surge will
Sibneft, but at present a deal seeing the return of funds paid during the merger process is impossible because all
Yukos assets, including Sibneft shares, have been frozen, Bank of Moscow analysts said. Such a deal is the best outlook
for Yukos because it would raise the necessary funds to pay off debts to the government. However, it is not clear
whether the government will give Yukos this opportunity, they said.
On the RTS, prices went down 5.4% for Unified Energy System, 4.9%
for Norilsk Nickel, 5.3% for Lukoil, 2.5% for Mosenergo, 2.5% for
The drawn out divorce between the two oil giants has undermined hopes for Sibneft's quick sale to one of the
western holding companies, said Anatoly Kaplin of the Aton brokerage. "Canceling the Yukos share issue nears such
an event. Yukos may be able to improve its finances because Sibneft chief Roman Abramovich is trying to return a stake
sold for $3 billion in order to sell his company to foreign investors quickly," he said.
It is too soon to talk about the market's decline ending, Volkov said. "Those that held on to long
positions on the Russian market, and not only Yukos but other blue chips, are now forced to sell shares to minimize
losses. It is all pointing toward the 550 point mark on the RTS being beaten and the market may drop to around 500
points. All the worst forecasts are beginning to be justified," he said.
begin from 550 points, Baranov said.
Rostelecom, 2.1% for Sberbank, 4.9% for Surgutneftegas, and 1.6% for Tatneft.
Among the second-tier shares, prices fell 2.3% for CenterTelecom, 7.3% for Dalsvyaz, 4% for Uralsvyazinform, 4.1% for
Severstal, and 3% for Votkinsky hydropower station.
Trading volume totaled $27.107 million on the RTS (including $11.116 million in direct deals), and over 17.4 billion
rubles on the MICEX.
Gazprom shares on the St. Petersburg went down 0.8% to 52.15 rubles in volume of over 38.493 million shares.
Players were pleased to hear Gazprom's statement from Novy Urengoi that the government could purchase a 16.5%
stake held by subsidiaries for about $5 billion, Kaplin said. [RU ASIA EUROPE EEU EMRG STX MET CRU TEL ENR BNK INSI]
me
[Interfax] |
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