Russian stocks may open close to flat on neutral environment

MOSCOW, Sep 23 (PRIME) -- Russian stocks are likely to open close to flat on Friday due to a neutral environment and no strong drivers for any kind of movement, analysts said.

“We expect the market to open close to the previous day’s MICEX index figure of 2,025.3 points today, and suppose that after four consecutive days of growth the stock indicator will fluctuate around current levels due to a neutral external background,” Oleg Shagov, head of the analytical department at investment company Solid, said.

The ultimate influence of key factors that provide a significant impact on the movement of the Russian market is close to neutral, as Brent oil futures are holding above U.S. $47 per barrel due to a weak position of the U.S. dollar after the Federal Reserve System’s (Fed) decision to maintain the monetary policy, while U.S. stock index futures are changing insignificantly and Asian floors show no single dynamics, Shagov said.

“Today, a slight downward correction of the RTS index is possible as the world markets are cooling down after the initial and optimistic reaction to results of meetings of the Fed and the Japanese central bank. But there are no significant reasons to flee from risky assets, so there is also a possibility that the increase (of Russian stocks) may continue,” investment company Olma’s senior analyst Anton Startsev said.

Vitaly Manzhos, a senior analyst at Bank Obrazovanie, said the Russian stock market may open with a marginal contraction of the MICEX index in the range of 2,020–2,025 points as the oil prices fell by about 0.8%. “The levels of 2,010 and 2,000 points will become the support, while marks of 2,040 and 2,050 points of the MICEX index will act as resistance,” Manzhos said.

Shagov also said that local investors will focus their attention today on the Moscow financial forum hosted by the country’s Finance Ministry.

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