Russian stocks may open flat on lack of positive drivers

MOSCOW, Jun 22 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market may start Thursday’s trading session little changed for the lack of strong drivers to continue the Wednesday growth, analysts said.

“The stock market turned to the green zone yesterday after a slight fall in the morning, and the MOEX Russia Index gained half a percentage point at the end of the day. This created a signal for moving up from the three-day sideways trade. But this signal is most likely false, as there are no drivers for the market to continue growing,” head of Alor Broker investment consulting department Alexei Antonov said.

The oil price lost 0.5% on Thursday morning, providing some negative momentum for the market. The oil shares underperformed even during Wednesday’s trade.

Demand for the shares of metals companies is speculative and unstable on the absence of industry news, and even a recent growth of the ruble against the U.S. dollar is temporary because the tax period is to end soon, Alor Broker Antonov said.

The market shrugged off new Europe’s anti-Russian sanctions. It has become immune to sanctions, and the new measures will cover only a handful of companies that the E.U. tries to block from bypassing previous restrictions, he said.

“In general, we think that the stock market has more chances to fall in the two final days of the week instead of growing,” Antonov said.

Cifra Broker said in a research note that the market outlook was neutral. The Japanese index Nikkei 225 lost 0.5%, the Chinese index Shanghai Composite fell by 1.3%, while the Russian market showed no signs of weakness on Wednesday.

But BitRiver financial analyst Vladislav Antonov said that the ruble may fall soon and support the Russian market.

“The growth (of the MOEX Russia Index) was moderate (on Wednesday). Investors were mostly interested in the transport sector, in the metals, and in the mining industries. The growth trend persists because the ruble is still under the pressure and there are risks for the U.S. dollar to grow to 86 rubles,” he said.

Although the ruble gained against the U.S. dollar on Wednesday, it was only a slight correction, while tensions between the U.S. and China also affected the investor mood. The current dynamics of the currency and oil markets are unstable, BitRiver’s Antonov said.

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