MOSCOW, November 3. /TASS/. The MOEX Index fell by 0.56% to 2,441.99 points at the close of Tuesday’s main trading session, while the dollar-denominated RTS Index declined by 1.4% to 941.94 points. The yuan exchange rate fell by 3.9 kopecks to 12.189 rubles.

"The MOEX Index attempted to return to the 2,500-point mark today, but sellers took the initiative during the session," stock market expert at BCS World of Investments Andrey Smirnov said.

Stock market

The top gainers were shares of LSR (+16.89%), RusHydro (+7.6%), Positive Group (+5.29%), Lenta (+4.51%), Samolet (+3.23%), Ozon (+2.96%), Moscow Credit Bank (+2.83%), Rosseti (+1.78%), PhosAgro (+1.73%), and Aeroflot (+1.72%), analyst at Finam Financial Group Maxim Abramov said.

According to Freedom Global analyst Vladimir Chernov, the rise in RusHydro shares may have been linked to government plans to attract investment in the construction and modernization of power plants.

Among the biggest decliners were shares of VK (-6.29%), Rostelecom common shares (-4.19%), Renaissance Insurance (-3.56%), Mechel preferred shares (-3.33%), Sovcomflot (-3.1%), Rusal (-1.91%), Rusagro (-1.86%), Polyus (-1.86%), Sistema PJSFC (-1.85%), and Mechel common shares (-1.81%), Abramov added.

Chernov suggested that the decline in VK shares may have been driven by profit-taking after the stock surged more than 50% over the previous two trading sessions.

Outlook for November 4

BCS World of Investments noted that if November 4 passes without major disruptions, the MOEX Index could resume its upward movement and target the 2,500-point mark. The short-term forecast puts the dollar exchange rate in the range of 80.5-82.5 rubles and the yuan at 12.05-12.35 rubles.

Freedom Global analyst Vladimir Chernov expects the MOEX Index to trade within a range of 2,400-2,500 points during the next trading session.