MOSCOW, May 19. / TASS /. The Russian stock market declined in the middle of the week on the deteriorating external background and the fall in oil prices. By the end of trading, the Moscow Exchange index went down by 1.44% to 3634.76 points, the dollar-denominated RTS index by 1.36%, to 1552.91 points.

The dollar grew by 0.03% to 73.73 rubles, the euro decreased by 0.06% to 90.07 rubles.

"Another wave of sales swept through the global stock exchanges due to fears of a move to higher rates in the United States earlier than basic expectations, investors were fixing profits before the publication of the April Fed meeting minutes," said Alexander Bakhtin, investment strategist at BCS World of Investments. Also, despite the general decrease in the daily incidence of coronavirus in the world, mortality remains high - about 10,000 people die every day from the consequences of COVID-19, including about 4,000 in India, he added.

Oil prices, in turn, reacted with a decline to signals of progress in negotiations between the United States and Iran on a nuclear deal, which could potentially lead to a return to the world market of supplies of over 1.5 mln barrels per day of Iranian oil. Over the day, the nearest futures for Brent crude oil lost about 2.4%, dropping to $ 66.8 per barrel.