Russian stocks may contract as other bourses fall

MOSCOW, Mar 4 (PRIME) – The Russian stocks may open lower on Thursday in line with the international trading floors, analysts said.

“Today the background for the national market is unfavorable. As of 8.00 a.m. Moscow time, the futures for the S&P 500 index fell by 0.7%, and all Asian floors show negative dynamics, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 losing 2.7%, China’s CSI 300 shrinking by 1.54%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng losing 2.55%, and South Korean KOSPI falling by 0.78%,” Artemy Shamshukov, analyst at investment company Finam, said.

Yelena Kozhukhova, another Finam analyst, said that the stock market mood all around the world worsened.

“The market is still worried about the high yields on sovereign securities. This background makes short-term trade more volatile, but the key risky assets continue looking upward in the mid-term. This is why gold is not in demand, and it again fell to U.S. $1,700 per ounce, the lowest since June 2020, and it worsens prospects of shares of gold producing companies in spite of their robust financial performance,” she said.

Alor Broker senior analyst Alexei Antonov also said that the Russian market will edge down at opening as the futures for U.S. indices lost about half of a percentage point in the morning.

Shamshukov also said that investors will focus on the unemployment data for the Eurozone and weekly U.S. jobless claims. Among the Russian corporate events, the most notable are a release of a financial report for October–December 2020 by top bank Sberbank, power utility Unipro, tech giant Mail.ru Group, and mobile operator MTS.

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