Russian stocks can fall on sanctions fears, run for safety

MOSCOW, Sep 6 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market will likely fall at opening on Thursday weighed down by investor fears of stricter sanctions and a continued outflow of capital from risky assets, analysts said.

“The risks of scaling up the sanctions by the U.K. reemerged yesterday. Theresa May, the prime minister, promised that London will lobby the extension of sanctions against Moscow more actively due to the claims against several intelligence service employees in the Salisbury tragedy case,” Anna Bodrova, senior analyst at Alpari, said.

Anton Startsev, a senior analyst at investment company Olma, said that an outflow from emerging market assets continues. Fitch’s reduction of ratings’ outlooks of five Italian banks to Negative can affect investors’ activity as well.

The Asian markets fall, as well as oil futures, the dynamics of U.S. stock market futures are close to zero. According to Alexei Antonov, an analyst at Alor Broker, these factors will contribute to negative dynamics in Russia.

According to Bodrova, the MOEX Russia Index will open with a 0.1–0.2% downward gap at 2,310–2,335.

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