Analysts say Russian stocks overbought, may open flat on Thu

MOSCOW, Jan 28 (PRIME) -- Russian stocks may open little changed on Thursday despite rising oil prices as technical indicators show that the market is overbought, analysts said.

“We expect the Russian stock market to open close to flat near yesterday’s MICEX closing point of 1,747.57,” Oleg Shagov, head of investment company’s Solid analytical department, said.

“Higher world oil prices helped the Russian market speed up the local upward movement, which may continue today. But technical indicators of the intra-day timeframe show the market is overbought, which may result in a correctional downward movement.”

The background prior to the start of the trading session is mixed with U.S. stock index futures edging up after Wednesday’s fall of U.S. stocks, while Asian floors show no common dynamics. The Brent oil price has fallen 0.51% to U.S. $32.93 per barrel as of 8.39 a.m. Moscow time.

“We expect the market to open with insignificant changes of the MICEX index in the range of 1,745–1,750 points. The levels of 1,730 and 1,710 will become the closest support levels, while 1,750 and 1,770 will act as resistance,” Vitaly Manzhos, a senior analyst at Bank Obrazovanie, said.

Investment company Olma’s senior analyst Anton Startsev did not rule out a slight increase as “Russian stocks have not yet priced in the results of a recent meeting of the U.S. Federal Reserve System (Fed)”, which decided to keep its key rate unchanged.

Investors will also track data on U.S. orders for durable goods and weekly jobless claims statistics, which are to be released during the day.

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