Russian stocks may open flat on US state debt uncertainty

MOSCOW, May 25 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market is likely to start the Thursday trade session near the previous closure level in spite of growing oil prices, because a general uncertainty around the U.S. state debt situation provides a negative momentum, analysts said.

“Even though the MOEX Russia Index renewed the last record high (on Wednesday), the trade activity remains low on the market. We saw a flow of money from the weak shares of Gazprom and Magnit into Sberbank. Many investors are waiting for the market to rise above 2,660, but the buyers are unable to overcome the threshold without a further weakening of the ruble,” BitRiver financial analyst Vladislav Antonov said.

The Brent oil price remains at a rather high level of around U.S. $78.30 per barrel, and the road to $81 is open for the buyers, but the growth is restricted by the rising exchange rate of the U.S. dollar and an uncertainty around the U.S. state debt. There are no conditions for the ruble to fall at the end of this week, therefore the ruble and the market may continue moving sideways, Antonov said.

Promsvyazbank’s senior analyst Dmitry Monastyrshin said that a positive impact of growing oil prices was cancelled out by a decrease in appetite for risk on the global markets because of the uncertainty around the U.S. state debt.

Bogdan Zvarich, senior analyst at financial platform Banki.ru, said that the MOEX Russia Index may continue rising on Thursday.

“In spite of the worsening of the mood of players on the foreign trade floors, the improvement of situation on the market of energy sources will provide support to the Russian shares because the nearest futures for the Brent oil managed to get to the middle of the $75–80 range. The range of 2,800–3,000 of the MOEX Russia Index could act as a medium-term goal for the current growth scenario,” Zvarich said.

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