08/17/1998 14:55:51 Russia shares end down, volatile after rouble news

MOSCOW, Aug 17 (Reuters) - Russia's top share index ended almost five percent lower on Monday although dealers said the volatile market had bounced up and down all day after the central bank and government effectively devalued the rouble. The leading RTS1-Interfax <.IRTS> index closed down 4.85 percent at 109.43 with trading volume a very illiquid $10.44 million. Dealers said the index had at one point in early trade fallen as much as 15 percent. Dealers said the market saw the rouble news and a 90-day moratorium on some foreign debt repayments as overwhelmingly negative but that prices had more or less adjusted downwards for several weeks to take account of an expected devaluation. They said oil stocks had not been affected as much as the wider market, given the expected benefits they would reap from a devaluation. Electricity grid company United Energy Systems (UES) <EESR.RTS> slipped to $0.0775 from $0.0800 while oil major LUKOil ended down at $6.0 versus $6.09 although its intra-day level at one point reached $6.35. Dealers said the market had also been pulled lower by a fresh round of downgrades from international rating agencies and reports that there was pressure from the Kremlin on central bank chief Sergei Dubinin to quit. ((Patrick Lannin, Moscow Newsroom, +7 095 941-8520 moscow.newsroom@reuters.com))