MOSCOW, February 10. /TASS/. Russian stock indices slightly declined by the end of the trading session on the Moscow Exchange on Friday.
The MOEX index edged down by 0.04% to 261.58 points, the dollar-denominated RTS index fell by 0.62% to 971.95 points.
"The external background was moderately negative. Chinese and Hong Kong indices ended the day in the red, Euro Stoxx 50 and American futures declined. For ruble assets the pressure of the negative background was smoothed out by oil price optimism," explains Alexander Bakhtin, investment strategist at BCS World of Investments.
On Friday, the Bank of Russia, as expected, kept the key rate at the same level of 7.5% per annum, he noted. "This has become a neutral decision for the domestic stock market," the analyst added.
By the end of the day, the dollar-to-ruble rate rose by 0.53% to 73.39 rubles, the euro rate fell by 0.44% to 78.44 rubles, the yuan rate went down by 0.17% to 10.74 rubles.
Stock market
The shares of the following Russian companies were the growth leaders on the Russian stock market: TGK-1 (+5.83%), Samolet developer (+2.71%) and Etalon (+2.64%).
Among the drop leaders were depositary receipts of the Headhunter.ru group (-2.01%), shares of Aeroflot (-1.97%) and Gazprom Neft (-1.8%).
Forecast for Monday
"According to our estimates, trading on Monday can be held in a calm way. Important economic statistics and significant events are not expected to be released on this day," Bakhtin said.
On Tuesday data on the growth rate of consumer prices in the US (CPI) in January is expected which can make sentiments of the investors more cautious before the publication, the expert added.
As BCS World of Investments predicts, on February 13, the MOEX Index can be in the range of 2,200-2,300 points, the dollar-to-ruble exchange rate can be in the range of 71-74 rubles.