April 16 (Bloomberg) -- Russia’s benchmark Micex Index dropped by the most in more than two months after oil fell and China’s moves to cool real estate speculation quelled appetite for riskier assets.
OAO Rosneft, the country’s largest crude producer, and OAO Gazprom, its gas export monopoly, both fell by more than 2 percent. The 30-stock Micex slumped 2.3 percent to 1,495.08 at the close in Moscow, paring its weekly gain to 0.1 percent.
“Oil is lower and there are external factors such as the fear China is curbing its growth which will hit a natural resource economy like Russia,” Andrei Kuznetsov, a strategist at Troika Dialog, said by phone today.
China today raised requirements for down-payments on some home purchases, fuelling speculation it may tighten policy further to cool growth, slowing a global recovery. Crude oil, Russia’s main export earner, fell as much as $2.80 or 3.3 percent, to $82.71 a barrel in New York as the dollar’s advance reduced the attraction of commodities as an alternative investment.
Stocks fell to their lows of the day after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission sued Goldman Sachs Group Inc. for fraud tied to packaging and selling collateralized debt obligations that contributed to the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.
OAO Mosenergo retreated to its weakest in more than two weeks, losing 2.5 percent to 3.95 rubles after the Moscow-based electricity generator reported a 19 percent drop in profit last year.
--Editors: Alex Nicholson, Stephen Kirkland.
To contact the reporter on this story: Jason Corcoran at Jcorcoran13@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Gavin Serkin at gserkin@bloomberg.net
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