Russian stocks can decrease on negative foreign mkts, oil trend

MOSCOW, Mar 19 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market will likely fall on Monday at the start of the trading session because of a decline predominant on foreign markets and in oil prices, analysts said.

“We expect a moderately negative start of trade in Russia with a 0.2–0.3% decrease of the MOEX Russia Index, close to the level of 2,290. The levels of 2,280 and 2,260 are the closest significant support levels, the levels of 2,300 and 2,320 are strong resistance levels,” Vitaly Manzhos, senior risk manager at investment company Nord Capital, said.

He said that the result of the March 18 presidential elections is unlikely to affect the Russian stock market because of its predictability.

The U.S. stock market futures are falling unevenly by up to 0.8%, the Brent price fell about 0.5%, gold futures lost 0.1%, Japan’s Nikkei 225 declined 1%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose slightly. According to Manzhos, these factors will make the background for the start of the Russian trading session moderately negative.

Olma senior analyst Anton Startsev said that Russian investors will be waiting for a financial report by MTS under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) for 2017 on Monday.

Later this week, a meeting of the U.S. Federal Reserve System (Fed) chaired by Jerome Powell on Wednesday evening is expected by investors worldwide.

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