Russian stocks may open flat on mixed background

MOSCOW, Sep 22 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market is likely to start the Thursday trade session with marginal changes from the Wednesday closure level as the external background is sending mixed signals to the local players, analysts said.

“The external background was negative prior to the start of trade in Russia, but the Asian floors bounced back from the lowest figures in an attempt to regain the losses, and the shares of exporters in Japan are already in gaining the price, as they expect a further weakening of the yen. The shares of defense suppliers in China are also rising. The oil price is trying to get back above U.S. $90 per Brent barrel, as the real deficit of supplies could be more worrying than a recession,” Otkritie Research’s leading analyst Andrei Kochetkov said.

The Russian shares will continue trying to find a balance between the current risks, the prospects of higher taxes, and the current prices that look interesting in the long term, therefore the MOEX Russia Index may show some volatility, Kochetkov said.

Head of the investment consulting division of Alor Broker Alexei Antonov said that the U.S. stock market fell on Wednesday as the Federal Reserve System raised its rate by 0.75 percentage points and reduced the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) growth estimate for 2022 to 0.2% from 1.7%. The fall of the world’s largest economy may hurt the global demand for oil and metals, but the oil price stayed above $90 per barrel and even showed some intent for growth.

“It is possible that our market may try to grow slightly today, but the most likely scenario for us is that we will continue moving sideways in the range of 2,000–2,200 for some time,” he said, adding that the new possible sanctions of the West were unlikely to hurt Russia significantly.

Given the current situation, investors should pay attention to the shares of the companies that are focused on national consumption, including grocery retailers. Out of the shares of exporters, the companies that make products that are in high demand on the West, including fertilizer producers and titanium giant VSMPO Avisma, should be looked into, Antonov said.

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