Translated material
The RTS index was waiting for Putin
And speculators miss work
The shortened week after the holidays started optimistically for the Russian market. In anticipation of Vladimir Putin's speech with his annual message, the RTS index from the opening of trading until the president came to the podium grew by 1.69% and reached a record 1,795 points. However, immediately after the head of state’s speech, the trend changed. By the close of trading, the RTS index fell to 1739, which is 1.47% lower than Saturday’s close. By the end of trading, quotes of RAO UES fell by 1.31%, Gazprom by 2.34%, and LUKOIL by 0.9%.“Sales began even during the president’s speech, speculators were “fixed”, warming up the market between the May holidays. In addition, some players were ahead of the news from the US Federal Reserve, which on Wednesday will decide the issue of the discount rate and its further dynamics. I think there will be a correction will not be deep, Russian assets are “on sale” from non-residents, which means prices will soon resume growth, if not this week, then next,” Interfax-AFI quotes Evgeniy Volkov, a trader in the investment department of MDM Bank. “The market was set up for partial profit-taking after the May holidays and postponed this idea until the president’s speech, and the sales were in no way related to the content of Putin’s speech,” Antanta Capital trader Dmitry Peregudov told the agency. “The market has now taken a break after growth, some of the “long positions” are being reduced, but the driver for further growth remains expensive gold, which is “rising into the sky” and supports the mood for a continuation of the market rally.”
In previous days, one of the defining events for the market was the decision of the Basmanny Court on May 4 to ban transactions with preferred shares of Transneft. Following this, trading in these securities was stopped on Friday on the classic market of NP RTS and the exchange market of OJSC RTS. On the MICEX, trading continued until 17.30, until the exchange received an official document on the court decision, however, from the very beginning of trading, the shares managed to fall in price by 6.7%. The fall of Transneft securities on the MICEX could not but affect the market. Their massive sale began, which entailed the sale of other shares. However, by the end of the trading day the situation returned to normal.
On Saturday, the last trading day before the holidays, there was a lull in the market. The trading volume was small, Gazprom shares grew steadily and by the end of the day reached a price of 350 rubles. per piece. Rostelecom shares continued to fall, losing another 3.39%. This is due to the company's recent RAS report, which showed a decrease in net profit in the first quarter.
Yesterday, OMZ shares showed rapid growth, as a result of which the RTS stock exchange had to stop trading in the company's shares for an hour due to an increase in the current price to the opening level of the session by more than 10%. By the time trading was suspended, the price of OMZ shares exceeded the opening price by 15%, reaching $10. This increase was caused by an offer to purchase 19% of OMZ ordinary shares, issued on May 4 by Gazprombank. At the same time, the price offered by the bank is 230 rubles. per share - at that moment was below the market price.