Oil prices may push Russian stocks higher at Wednesday opening

MOSCOW, Oct 19 (PRIME) -- A recent increase of oil prices is likely to push Russian stocks higher at the beginning of Wednesday’s trade, analysts said.

“We expect the Russian stock market to open in a positive way close to 1,970 of the MICEX index and suppose that the stock index will try to win back last week’s losses supported by the favorable background,” Oleg Shagov, head of investment company Solid’s research department, said.

The background prior to the start of the trade session is moderately positive, with the Brent oil price rising 0.901% to U.S. $52.15 per barrel, while the U.S. stock index futures are marginally increasing and Asian floors show no common dynamics.

Anton Startsev, a senior analyst at investment company Olma, said that the oil price received a positive impulse from Tuesday’s American Petroleum Institute (API) report, which showed a 3.8 million barrel contraction of the U.S. crude oil reserves in a week, while the market expected an increase of 2.7 million barrels. But the price may be affected by the U.S. Department of Energy’s data on oil reserves, which will be published later in the day.

“We expect the market to open with a moderate increase of about 0.2–0.3% of the MICEX index in a 1,970–1,975 range. 1,960 and 1,950 will become the closest support levels, while 1,980 and 1,990 will act as resistance levels,” Vitaly Manzhos, a senior analyst at Bank Obrazovanie, said.

The market will price in all improvements of the external background at the beginning of trade, but may stop at 1,980 of the MICEX index waiting for new signals, Manzhos said.

“The external background looks moderately favorable at the start of trading, but there are no reasons for sustainable growth yet,” Startsev said.

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