MOEX Russia Index Rises 2.16% After Initial Dip, Experts Offer Mixed Forecasts

MOSCOW, July 20. /TASS/. The benchmark MOEX Russia Index climbed 2.16% to finish Monday's main trading session at 2,000.83 points, while the dollar-denominated RTS Index rose 2.27% to 804.77 points. The Chinese yuan edged up by 7 kopecks to 11.64 rubles.

"The MOEX Index briefly dipped below 1,900 points at Monday's open before staging a quick rebound, with investors shifting to active buying later in the day. The morning downward gap was purely technical, triggered by dividend ex-dates for Sberbank, VTB, and several other equities. However, today’s broad-market recovery could also be technical, driven by extreme oversold conditions," said Andrey Smirnov, a stock market expert at BCS World of Investments.

"Eurotrans shares surged 76%, leading the gainers following the repayment of its July bond coupon and the company's exit from technical default," noted Natalia Milchakova, lead analyst at Freedom Global.

Meanwhile, Transneft preferred shares spearheaded the decliners, plunging 14% as the stock went ex-dividend following the closure of its shareholder register.

BCS World of Investments expects the MOEX Index to trade between 1,900 and 2,050 points on Tuesday. It forecasts the US dollar to trade at 77-79 rubles and the yuan at 11.4-11.7 rubles.

Freedom Global projects the MOEX Index to move within a 1,950-2,050 range on Tuesday, with exchange rates for the dollar, euro, and yuan seen at 77-79 rubles, 88-90 rubles, and 11.4-11.9 rubles, respectively.

Meanwhile, Tsifra Broker points out that it is premature to signal a sustainable market reversal as OFZ (Russian government bond) yields continue to climb. According to their analyst, the MOEX Index could see a corrective recovery toward 2,000-2,050 points, while the ruble is expected to stabilize with a bias toward moderate weakening, targeting 11.3-11.8 rubles per yuan, 77-80 rubles per US dollar, and 88-91 rubles per euro.