Russian stocks may fall on oil price losses, looming Fed meeting

MOSCOW, Apr 25 (PRIME) -- Russian stocks may decrease on Monday at the start of the trading session because of the oil price fall and investors’ unwillingness to open longs before a meeting of the U.S. Federal Reserve System (Fed), analysts said.

“The external background for the Russian market looks negative in the morning,” Finam analyst Timur Nigmatullin said.

Brent fell below U.S. $45 per barrel on the back of reports on continuation of oversupply, Oleg Shagov, head of investment company Solid’s research department, said.

The forthcoming U.S. Fed meeting on Wednesday will dissuade traders from purchases, Nigmatullin said.

The technical analysis data does not rule out a short-term suspension of the RTS growth, Anton Startsev, leading analyst at investment company Olma, said. The MICEX will likely open with a 0.3–0.5% downward gap, Vitaly Manzhos, a senior analyst at Bank Obrazovanie, said.

The information regarding the OPEC authorities’ future steps may influence the Russian market trends because some representatives of the organization do not rule out a restart of negotiations to freeze oil output, Startsev said.

The influence of Rosneft’s 2015 dividend announcement by the board of directors earlier on Monday will be insignificant, Shagov said. Other oil companies, Lukoil and Tatneft, and also fertilizer maker Acron, will announce the recommendations for dividends later in the day.

The reporting season continues with retailer Magnit and power holding Inter RAO scheduled to present their reports for Monday.

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