Russian stocks may decrease on oil price slide

MOSCOW, Jul 17 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market will likely open lower on Monday as the oil and gas sector shares will be hurt by declining oil prices, analysts said.

"We expect sales to become more active in the Russian shares today at the start of trade. Deterioration of the situation on the external trading floors and a decrease of oil prices will pressure the market triggering a correction. The main pressure will be experienced by the oil and gas sector," senior analyst at financial supermarket Banki.Ru Bogdan Zvarich said.

BitRiver financial analyst Vladislav Antonov said that the Brent price eased by 0.63% to U.S. $79.12 during Monday’s trade on the Asian market. He also said that the ruble will likely increase supported by foreign currency sales by Russian exporters ahead of the payment of a unified tax on July 28.

The Brent remained in the upper half of the $75–80 range in spite of the decline, which will also support the national currency, Zvarich said.

However, the ruble fell by about 0.5% to 90.5 against the U.S. dollar and 101.7 against the euro as of 9:00 a.m., Moscow time.

Antonov described the most likely stock market scenario as consolidation with a slight increase.

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