Russian stock market closes week on minor note, Rostelecom stocks soar
MOSCOW. Dec 16 (Interfax) - The efforts of the Russian stock market to hold above 1,400 points on both the RTS and MICEX as political tension in the country subsided proved unsuccessful on Friday. By evening, the market was posting losses because of sales before the weekend.
Benchmark stocks on the MICEX decreased by 0.75% to 1,383.13 points while the RTS Index slumped by 1.5% to 1,373.73 points. The majority of blue chips on the market slipped within 4%.
The MICEX Stock Exchange lost 0.9% for the week while the RTS Index had by 2.6%
Decliners on the MICEX for Friday were Gazprom , down 0.8%, Lukoil - 1.4%, MMC Norilsk Nickel - 1.4%, Polyus Gold - 2.8%, Rosneft - 1.7%, Sberbank - 2%, Surgutneftegas - 3.9%, and Tatneft - 3.3%.
Advancers for the day were VTB , up 0.7%, Gazprom - 1.3%, NOVATEK - 0.5%, and Federal Gird Company UES - 1.7%. The main advancer for the day was Rostelecom , which saw its quotation go up by 4.9% to 148.7 rubles per share.