Russian equities ended Thursday's session in negative territory as sector-level declines in Mining, Oil & Gas and Power pressured the benchmark. At the close in Moscow, the MOEX Russia Index lost 1.17% and recorded a fresh one-month low.
Leading the winners on the MOEX Russia Index were AK ALROSA PJSC (MCX:ALRS), which advanced 1.11% or 0.37 points to finish at 33.63; Unipro PJSC (MCX:UPRO), which added 0.55% or 0.01 points to close at 1.46; and OK Rusal MKPAO (MCX:RUAL), up 0.24% or 0.10 points to 41.38 by late trade.
On the downside, AFK Sistema PJSC (MCX:AFKS) was the weakest performer, slipping 2.31% or 0.29 points to end at 12.20. ROSSETI PJSC (MCX:FEES) was listed as unchanged, showing 2.06% and 0.00 points to finish at 0.07 in the session summary, while Gazprom PJSC (MCX:GAZP) declined 1.79% or 2.35 points to 128.73.
Price action was skewed toward losers: falling stocks outnumbered advancing issues on the Moscow Exchange by 185 to 55, and 10 issues finished unchanged.
The Russian Volatility Index - RVI, which reflects implied volatility of MOEX Russia Index options, moved lower by 25.27% to 20.08, marking a new 52-week low for the gauge.
Commodity and currency moves were mixed in the session. Gold futures for June delivery rose 0.27% or 13.05 to $4,790.25 a troy ounce. In energy markets, crude oil for May delivery climbed 3.78% or 3.57 to $97.98 a barrel, while the June Brent contract edged down 0.08% or 0.08 to $96.32 a barrel.
Foreign-exchange pairs involving the Russian ruble reported no change in the session summary: USD/RUB was unchanged at 77.43 and EUR/RUB was unchanged at 90.79. The US Dollar Index Futures fell 0.28% to 98.65.
Market participants assessing the session will note the concentration of weakness in resource and utilities names alongside subdued implied volatility, while commodity moves showed divergent directions between benchmarks.