Russia’s Stocks Retreat for 1st Day in Four on Lower Oil, Google
By Jason Corcoran, Bloomberg
Russian stocks dropped for the first time in four days as oil declined and after Google Inc. reported third-quarter results that missed analyst forecasts.
The Micex Index (INDEXCF) slid 0.6 percent to 1,466.85 by 12:26 p.m in Moscow, paring its weekly gain to 1.4 percent. Billionaire Vladimir Evtushenkov's AFK Sistema fell 1.4 percent. Yandex NV (YNDX), Russia's biggest Internet company, slumped 2.3 percent to $22.41 in the U.S. yesterday, the lowest level since Sept. 5, while Mail.ru Group Ltd lost 0.8 percent in London today.
Google led U.S. stocks lower yesterday, slumping as much as 10.5 percent yesterday after reporting third-quarter profit excluding some items of $9.03 a share versus an average analyst estimate of $10.65. Microsoft's net income fell to 53 cents a share in the three months through Sept. 30, missing the 56-cent average forecast.
"There is no need to search Google to find out what is weighing on market sentiment this morning," Chris Weafer, chief strategist at Sberbank Investment Research, wrote in an e-mailed report today. "The technology sector sinks the market."
Oil, Russia's main export revenue earner, traded down for the second day, declining 0.2 percent in New York to $91.94 a barrel. OAO Rosneft, Russia's biggest oil producer, lost 0.5 percent to 218.47 rubles, while OAO Gazprom, the natural gas export monopoly, slid 0.8 percent to 154.03 rubles.
OAO TNK-BP Holding, the traded unit of BP's Russian venture, plunged 2 percent to 78.50 rubles after police detained the head of the government relations department on suspicion of seeking bribes to sell government posts. TNK-BP is aware of the man's detention, which is not related to his work at the company, the press office said by e-mail.
Commodities
The Standard & Poor's GSCI Spot Index of 24 raw materials was little changed at 664.88.
The Market Vectors Russia ETF (RSX), the biggest U.S.-traded exchange-traded fund that holds Russian shares, dropped 0.1 percent to $29.41 yesterday, falling for the first time in four days. The RTS Volatility Index, which measures expected swings in the index futures, was unchanged at 25.30.
The Micex trades at 5.7 times estimated earnings after gaining 5 percent this year. That compares with a multiple of 10 times for the MSCI Emerging Markets Index, which has added 11 percent.
Russian equities have the lowest valuations based on estimated earnings among 21 emerging markets tracked by Bloomberg.
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