Russia stocks to open flat on oil, investors waiting for US stats

MOSCOW, Jul 1 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market will change marginally at opening of the trading session on Friday because oil prices are almost flat ahead of a U.S. statistics release, analysts said.

“The influence of the key factors which significantly affect the behavior of the Russian financial market has been close to neutral today at the beginning of the day,” Oleg Shagov, head of the research department at investment company Solid, said.

Oil quotations are almost flat at U.S. $50 as market participants are waiting for the release of U.S. drilling figures, Shagov said.

The U.S. stock market futures are falling, while Asian markets are rising and the European premarket trading signals a positive opening of the session, which makes for a neutral background in Russia in the morning, he said.

“The optimism concerning possible support of liquidity by global central banks has not been confident enough to ensure sustainable growth, while no new reasons for a rebound have appeared so far,” Olma’s senior analyst Anton Startsev said.

He said that the uncertainty over Brexit is also a negative factor for markets worldwide.

The MICEX will likely open at about 1,800, Shagov said. The RTS has met a resistance zone and will likely consolidate, Startsev said.

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