OREANDA-NEWS. According to Alfa-Bank analysts, the RTS on October 3 fell 0.7% (MICEX -0.9%), with Uralkali (-6.7%) leading the downtrend after a disappointing pricing range was announced for its IPO. SurgutNG pref shares fell 3.3%, pushing that company’s pref/common discount back to 50%. Polyus Gold was off 2.6% and Transneft prefs lost 2.4%. Amongst the blue chips, Rosneft and UES both fell 1.9%. Winners included Volga Telecom (+5.6%), Irkutskenergo (+4.7%), Mechel (+3.9%) and PIK Group (+3.6%). Today the market awaits the release of 1H07 financial results from Sistema, while tomorrow the major corporate earnings announcements (1H07 IFRS) will be from Evraz Group and Norilsk Nickel. Meanwhile, local liquidity is showing some tentative signs of improvement, with interbank rates declining to 5-6%. That said, the CBR continues to be active in the repo market, with overall refinancing operations yesterday reaching R69.6 bln ($2.8 bln).

Commodities prices seem to be still supportive of the Russian market, with WTI very stable around the $79-80/bbl range despite the release of EIA inventory data that showed an unexpected rise in crude stocks. In the metals market, nickel popped 2.7% in London to $31,500/ton, appearing to have found a trading range for the time being between $26,000-32,000/ton. Copper advanced 1.7% on worries about the supply situation in the wake of the Peruvian workers strike. Norilsk Nickel (+0.9%) seems bound to continue benefiting from the recent strength in these two base metals.