Inflating crude, metals should drag Russian stocks upwards

MOSCOW, Oct 18 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market is likely to edge up and can reach local highs on Wednesday thanks to favorable sentiments on energy and metals markets, analysts said.

“The MOEX Russia Index can test the year’s highs on Wednesday. Demand for banks’ shares can persist, and demand for the shares of exporters and carriers can rise as they are the beneficiaries of closer ties with Asia,” Yevgeny Loktyukhov, head of Promsvyazbank’s research department, said.

The positive sentiment will also be supported by an improving situation on the crude market in light of the continuing tensions in the Middle East, as well as by inflating metals, which react positively to China’s better-than-expected statistics.

BitRiver financial analyst Vladislav Antonov said that advancing crude prices and the rate of the U.S. dollar will push the MOEX Russia Index upwards, but further correction is also possible.

The peak taxation period is to take place after October 23 so local exporters will start more active sales of foreign currencies, but the factor is unlikely to support the ruble much after introduction of the law on compulsory sales of foreign currencies, he added.

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