Russian stocks down on economic recovery worries

Russian stocks lost over one percent in early Monday trade but the ruble firmed against the dollar amid the gloom on international trading floors. The RTS exchange fell 1.89 percent to 1,545.58 by 11.30 Moscow time after a 1.4 percent drop at the start of trading. The Moscow Interbank Currency Exchange (MICEX) index lost 1.23 percent to 1,421.10 after a 1.52 percent fall at opening. The average exchange rate of the Russian ruble edged up 1.54 kopecks to 29.25 to the U.S. dollar at the Unified Trading Session on the MICEX, which is the basis for the official rate. Investors are jittery because of worries about a recurring global economic recession, with U.S. President Barack Obama accusing the Senate of holding back economic recovery. "Markets look feeble, there are a lot of risks in the world economy which are likely to materialize. I do not recommend investing in risk assets, because their prices could turn out to be considerably lower," Aton investment company analyst Roman Serpeninov said. Disappointing U.S. gross domestic product data published at the end of July triggered large scale sales, Maxim Zaitsev from Nord Capital said. "The prospects for growth of the real economy do not allow us to hope for a stable positive stock market dynamics," he added. The European stock market showed positive dynamics early on Monday with France's CAC 40 index rising 0.75 percent, Britain's FTSE 100 adding 0.41 percent by 7.41 am GMT, while Germany' DAX edged down 0.27 percent. tocks down on economic recovery worries