The Russian Trading System came 1.23 per cent down against Friday to 549.02, with the day's deals roughly at $11.6 million, a token amount.
"Monday's Russian stock market came down, dealers extremely lax," says Anton Startsev, head expert of the Olma capital investment group. Vagueness round the Yugansk buyer makes dealers wait till they know whose interests the Baikal represents, he believes.
The Yugansk auction left the market baffled and apprehensive, says Sergei Sinitsyn, Olympiisky Bank corporate finance board chief.
Yukos slumped 25 per cent on the RTS through the day to $0.55 a share. Gazprom came 3.96 per cent down to $2.61-too many had seen the gas monopoly as the surest Yugansk bidder, and now hurry to get its stock off, remark financiers.
Experts think the market will be getting ever slacker up to the year's end, and do without a customary New Year race.
"Nothing serious is expected to turn up before the year's end, so market fluctuations will gradually smooth up. There is no chance for a big rise," says Sergei Belov of the Finam investors.
Pavel Bezdetnov of the Interfintrade investment company is very pessimistic. Yugansk auction returns are by far not enough to cope with Yukos back taxes, and what once was Russia's largest petroleum company will be sold off piecemeal, he warns.
There is another alarming issue he highlighted-VimpelCom fiscal claims, with very uncertain prospects.
The expert thinks the market will stay highly volatile into the year's end, transactions steadily shrinking before an upcoming Christmas break.
