Russian stocks may open down on low oil price, bad background

MOSCOW, Apr 5 (PRIME) -- The unfavorable background and lower oil prices will prompt a contraction of Russian stocks at Tuesday’s opening, analysts said.

“We expect the Russian market to open with a decrease in a 1,855–1,860 point range of the MICEX index, and suppose that the Russian stock market will remain under the sales pressure due to a negative external background,” Oleg Shagov, head of investment company Solid’s analytical department, said.

Roman Tkachuk, a senior analyst at investment company Okey Broker, said that the background is moderately negative as the U.S. stocks remained flat, Asian floors are mostly trading in the red zone, and futures for the S&P 500 index fell 0.23% in the morning.

The Russian market, as well as every other emerging countries stock markets, will also be undermined by the ongoing offshore scandal. “The damage from this exploded bomb will make an unamendable impact on routine financial flows, which penetrated international banking and economic space,” Vladimir Rozhankovsky, director of Okey Broker’s analytical department, said.

Vitaly Manzhos, senior analyst at Bank Obrazovanie, said that the Russian stock market may open 0.4% lower, close to a 1,850 of the MICEX index. “The levels of 1,840 and 1,830 will serve as the closest support levels, while 1,860 and 1,875 point maks will act as resistance.”

He added that the market will price in the unfavorable external background at Tuesday opening.

Investors will also focus their attention on statements of some European officials and representatives for the International Monetary Fund and the U.S. Federal Reserve System, and also on releases of macro statistics data, including purchasing managers’ indices (PMIs) of the U.K. and the U.S., Shagov added.

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