Russia Stocks Retreat First Day In 4 While U.S. Budget Pushes Oil Lower

Russian equities fell for the first time in four days as crude oil, the nation’s main export earner, fell and investors sold riskier assets amid a deadlock in U.S. budget talks.

Highlights from market news:

– The Micex Index lost 0.7 percent to 1,411.83 by the close in Moscow. Utilities and financial stocks declined at least 0.9 percent on average

– Oil slid 1 percent to $88.19 a barrel in New York after U.S. President Barack Obama’s administration rejected a Republican budget plan, as the two sides try to avert more than $600 billion in automatic tax increases

– Standard & Poor’s GSCI Index of Commodities lost 0.9 percent to 644.78. Zinc, tin and nickel declined in London.

Click here to read full Bloomberg press release.