Russian stocks may open down on low oil price

MOSCOW, Mar 31 (PRIME) -- Russian stocks are likely to edge down at opening on Tuesday following a falling prices for oil, the country’s core export, analysts said.

“We expect the market to open with a moderate decrease of about 0.3% in the range of 1,605-1,610 points of the MICEX index,” Nord-Capital analyst Vitaly Manzhos said.

“The oil price dynamics provides no ground for the RTS index to stop consolidating,” Olma senior analyst Anton Startsev said, adding that results of talks onr Iran’s nuclear program may prompt any movement on the oil market, but they will be announced no earlier than late Tuesday.

The Brent oil price lost 0.98% to U.S. $55.74 as of 8.49 a.m. Moscow time.

If a compromise on Iran’s nuclear program is reached today in Lausanne, the oil market will fall, which will hurt Russian indices, Alfa-Forex analyst Andrei Dirgin said.

In general, the background prior to the market’s opening is neutral with the U.S. stock index futures falling but Asian floors showing positive dynamics.

Investors will also focus today on Eurozone’s consumer prices index, U.K. gross domestic product statistic, Germany’s retail sales data and the Conference Board’s consumer confidence index.

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