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Stocks Decline as Oil Extends Fall

Stocks fell the most since Nov. 13 on Tuesday as oil extended declines after the U.S. revised economic growth down and metals slid.

LUKoil, RusHydro and Norilsk Nickel led the 30-stock MICEX Index to a loss of 1.8 percent to 1,331.12 at the close, as of 28 of the gauge’s 30 stocks slumped.

“The Russian market continues to trade as a derivative of global risk tolerance,” said Eric Kraus, head of strategy at Otkritie Financial. “These days the main driver is dollar weakness and commodity price.”

Developing-nation shares fell from their highest valuations in nine years on Tuesday and stocks in China dropped the most since August on concern banks will sell more shares to replenish capital depleted by record lending. Stocks on the MICEX on Monday traded at the most expensive in the six years Bloomberg has tracked the data, at an average 18.56 times earnings.

Russia, the world’s biggest energy exporter, has the best performing of 90 equity markets tracked by Bloomberg, more than doubling as oil in New York rebounded 74 percent since December on an improving global economy.

Norilsk Nickel, Russia’s largest mining company, dropped 2.8 percent to 4,004.37 rubles. Copper fell from a 14-month high in London, decreasing for the first time in three days on speculation demand may lag behind supply as stockpiles continue to expand.  

LUKoil lost 2.4 percent to 1,718.94 rubles. Transneft, Russia’s oil-pipeline operator, slumped 1.6 percent to 21,678.35 rubles.

Oil retreated as much as 2.5 percent to $75.60 a barrel in New York after the U.S. Commerce Department said the economy expanded at a 2.8 percent annual rate in the third quarter, down from a 3.5 percent increase initially stated. The U.S. Energy Department will probably report on Wednesday that crude-oil supplies grew by 1.5 million barrels in the week ended Nov. 20, according to a Bloomberg survey.

RusHydro decreased 5.1 percent to 1.152 rubles after Interfax reported the Russian Federal Tariff Service cut the regulated tariff for hydropower by 6.4 percent next year. The news is “negative” for RusHydro, according to a note from Rye, Man & Gor Securities.  

Gazprom slid 1.9 percent to 175.80 rubles, after dropping as much as 2.7 percent earlier.

“We estimate that the additional gas export duty payments equal 20 percent of Gazprom’s net income for the year of 2009- 2010, and that it will likely bring negative sentiment to Gazprom stock in the short term,” Victor Mishnyakov and Mikhail Zanozin, analysts at UralSib, wrote in a note to investors Tuesday. Sberbank slid 0.9 percent to 71.01 rubles.

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