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Russian stock indices RTS, MOEX decline on Monday

The yuan-to-ruble exchange rate lost 0.65% in a day, falling to 13.27 rubles

MOSCOW, February 3. /TASS/. The MOEX and RTS indices declined at the beginning of the week.

By the end of Monday's trading session, the MOEX index fell by 0.74% to 2,926.17 points, the dollar-denominated RTS index fell by 2.86% to 922.33 points.

The yuan-to-ruble exchange rate lost 0.65% in a day, falling to 13.267 rubles.

"The MOEX index began the week with a correction. On the one hand, foreign policy uncertainty remains, on the other, the Central Bank's meeting on the key rate is just around the corner. And while corporate and consumer lending has begun to cool, inflation is still high," said Alexander Shepelev, an expert on the stock market at BCS World of Investments.

The leaders in growth by the end of the session were shares of Unipro (+4.59%), Polyus (+0.7%), En+ (+0.49%), Surgutneftegas (+0.31%).

"The leader in growth was the shares of the energy company Unipro, probably after the publication of fairly strong operating results for 2024," said Natalia Milchakova, leading analyst at Freedom Finance Global.

The leaders of decline by the end of the session were shares of NLMK (-4.81%), VK (-4.66%), Mechel (-4.34%), Positive Group (-4.09%), and Mechel (-3.4%).

"NLMK shares were the leaders in the decline, possibly due to the Ministry of Industry and Trade's announcement of a reduction in steel production in the Russian Federation in 2024," Milchakova suggested.

BCS World of Investments expects that on February 4 the MOEX index will vary in the range of 2,900-3,000 points, the yuan rate may exceed 13.5 rubles, and the dollar rate will amount to 98-101 rubles.

Freedom Finance Global assumes that tomorrow the MOEX index may fluctuate in the range of 2,850 - 2,950 points. The benchmarks for the dollar, euro and yuan exchange rates for tomorrow are 98-100 rubles, 101-103.5 rubles. and 13.6-14 rubles respectively.

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