Russian stocks may ease thanks to discouraging foreign background

MOSCOW, Oct 15 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market may open slightly negatively on Thursday thanks to a discouraging external environment, analysts said.

“The Russian stock market may open slightly lower in light of a generally negative foreign background… It is a question whether the market is able to prevent a fall, but at least not at the beginning of the trading session,” investment company Finam analyst Alexei Kalachyov said.

Asian benchmarks except for China’s Shanghai Composite are trading lower, the Brent oil price is consolidating near U.S. $43 per barrels, and futures for the major U.S. indices are losing 0.25–0.5%, he added.

Olma senior analyst Anton Startsev still sees no considerable reasons for the RTS index to leave its consolidation range.

Kalachyov also said that Thursday is the last day to apply for oil and gas pipe maker TMK’s buyout offer so the shares may fall soon.

The market will also be driven by releases of operating results reports for July–September by steelmaker Novolipetsk Steel (NLMK), grocery retailer X5 Retail Group and realty developer PIK Group.

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