Russian stocks may open flat on falling oil, news from Ukraine

MOSCOW, Feb 19 (PRIME) -- Russian stocks are likely to open flat on Thursday as a downward movement on falling oil prices will most likely be curbed by news from Ukraine, where the ceasefire seems to start coming in effect, analysts said.

“Today markets will be mostly reacting to the news flow from Ukraine,” Andrei Dirgin, analyst at Alfa-Forex, said.

On Wednesday, the situation in Ukraine gradually stabilized, as both sides of the conflict announced a withdrawal of troops from the conflict zone. If they continue to fulfill the Minsk agreement, it will significantly ease the tension, he added.

“From our point of view, oil has again become a secondary factor for the market, or it will at least remain a secondary factor if prices stay within the range of U.S. $55-60 per barrel…We keep an optimistic view for the closest future of the market,” Ilya Frolov, analyst at Promsvyazbank, said.

The Brent oil price fell 1.64% to $59.54 per barrel as of 8.51 a.m. Moscow time. The background prior to the opening of the trading session is mixed, as U.S. stock index futures are trading close to flat and Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose about 0.4% China, Singapore and Hong Kong are closed for the Chinese New Year celebrations.

However, Promsvyazbank’s Frolov does not rule out a slightly negative trend of today’s trading session, and Vitaly Manzhos, analyst at ITinvest, even expects the market to open with a 0.5% downward correction close to 1,800 points of the MICEX index, due to the falling oil.

Investors will also closely watch for U.S. jobless claims data.

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