MOSCOW, January 20. /TASS/. The last trading session on the Moscow Exchange this week saw the decline of the Russian stock indices.
By the end of the trading week, the MOEX Index decreased by 0.1% to 2,166.69 points, the dollar-denominated RTS index dropped by 0.12%, to 991.88 points.
The dollar-to-ruble rate edged up by 0.03% to 68.83 rubles, the euro rate edged up by 0.01%, to 74.60 rubles, the yuan rate edged down by 0.01%, to 10.11 rubles.
"A moderate downward correction in the second half of the week was observed in the context of weak external sentiments, the tendency of the ruble to strengthen, and today the Friday factor was added to the abovementioned factors," said Alexander Bakhtin, an investment strategist at BCS World of Investments.
"Hawkish" rhetoric of representatives of the US monetary authorities worsened the mood on world markets in recent days, the expert added.
At the same time, oil prices maintain price growth momentum "which is associated with expectations of increased fuel demand in China, where quarantine restrictions are being eased and a typical surge in travel is predicted for this time of year," he explained.
The securities of Russian oil companies react poorly to the growth of oil prices. The expansion of the Urals discount worked as the deterrent for such a reaction. In addition to that a cap on prices for oil products from the Russian Federation will be introduced on February 5.
Stock market
The growth leaders on the Russian stock market on Friday were shares of the St. Petersburg Stock Exchange (+8%), "in anticipation of further decisions by European stock market regulators to unblock Russian assets in foreign depositories," Natalia Milchakova, a leading analyst at Freedom Finance Global, said.
On Friday, depository receipts of CIAN went up in price by 2.5% without news. TMK shares rose by 2.3% after the company's shareholders approved dividends for 9 months of 2022 in the amount of 6.78 rubles per share, the expert added.
The leader of the decline were the shares of the Beluga alcohol producer (-2.13%), shares of the energy company DEC (-1.8%), shares of Gazprom Neft (-1.2%) "while the new package of sanctions being discussed in the EU," Milchakova said.
Forecast for next week
Commodity prices, dynamics of the ruble exchange rate, geopolitics, regulators' signals, corporate news and key statistics are a set of variables that will determine the mood in the Russian market in the short term.
"On Monday, Christine Lagarde, President of the European Central Bank, will make a speech. No important statistics are expected to be released on this day. The US will continue to publish financial results of companies as part of the reporting season. China's stock exchanges will be closed all week due to the New Year holidays according to the lunar calendar," Bakhtin said.
He noted that the coming week will see the peak of the tax period and in this context attempts to further strengthen the ruble are not ruled out.
The forecast of BCS World of Investments on the MOEX index on January 23 is 2,120 - 2,220 points, on the dollar-to-ruble rate is 67.5-69.5 rubles.
Freedom Finance Global expects the MOEX index in the range of 2,100 - 2,250 points, the dollar/ruble pair - in the range of 67-69 rubles, euro/ruble - in the range of 73-75 rubles, yuan/ruble - in the range of 10-10.3 rubles.