Russian MICEX seen flat on cbank meeting, RTS rising on strong ruble

MOSCOW, Oct 26 (PRIME) – The dollar-denominated RTS stock index is likely to increase on Monday morning because of strengthening of the national currency, while the ruble-denominated MICEX will be virtually flat as investors will abstain from active trading before Russia’s central bank and the U.S. Federal Reserve System’s meetings later this week, analysts said.

“The influence of the key factors that significantly affect behavior of the Russian financial market will be close to neutral today at the start of the day in my opinion,” Oleg Shagov, head of research department at investment company Solid, said.

“The decisions of the U.S. Fed and the Russian central bank regarding their credit policies will be the significant events of the forthcoming week, which can affect investor moods.”

The foreign background is favorable for a rise in some stocks at the start of the trading session on Monday, Olma senior analyst Anton Startsev said. Growth of U.S. stocks at the closing of the October 23 trading session will support Russian indices, Vitaly Manzhos, a senior analyst at Bank Obrazovanie, said.

The ruble will become stronger supported by value-added tax, excises and mineral extraction tax payment deadlines on Monday and Wednesday, this is why the RTS will do much better than the MICEX, Shagov said.

On Monday, Russian traders will pay attention to the Germany’s Ifo business climate index release and the U.S. new housing sales figures.

End