Russia stocks seen rising at opening as oil prices climb up

MOSCOW, Oct 14 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market is likely to grow on Thursday morning as the external background in general and the oil prices in particular will trigger purchases as the beginning of the day, analysts said.

“We expect the market to open higher. There is no downward correction of oil prices, there only are sideways dynamics and the wish of bulls to push the quotes to U.S. $90 of the Brent,” Andrei Vernikov, head of the investment analysis and education department of investment company Univer Capital, said.

Many oil market analysts predict that the black gold will trade at $90, while President Vladimir Putin does not rule out the price of $100. Until the November meeting, OPEC and oil market’s bears have no arguments that would bring the price down, Vernikov said.

Alor Broker senior analyst Alexei Antonov said that the Russian market has all the prerequisites to restart growing.

“The futures for the U.S. market gain around 0.4% on Thursday morning, and the oil price rises by 0.9% in the range of $84 per barrel. That is why the shares of the oil and gas sector and Sberbank will drive the MOEX Russia Index up,” Antonov said.

The end of gold price growth looks temporary as inflationary processes call on investors to return to the defensive assets. On Wednesday, consumer inflation in the U.S. stayed at 5.4% annually, 0.1 percentage point above market expectations, showing that the growth of prices is not a temporary factor, Antonov said.

“We expect the MOEX Russia Index to open with a noticeable increase of 0.2–0.6% in the range of 4,250–4,270. The levels of 4,240 and 4,220 will act as the closest support, while 4,280 and 4,300 will become the resistance,” Vitaly Manzhos, senior risk manager at investment company Algo Capital, said.

“In the first minutes of trade, the MOEX Russia Index will price in the noticeable improvement of the external background, and later it may grow further to 4,280.”

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