Russian stocks may open flat on mixed external background

MOSCOW, Aug 8 (PRIME) -- Russian stocks are likely to open neutrally on Wednesday as the external background is sending mixed signals to the national market, analysts said.

“From the point of view of technical analysis, consolidation of the RTS index around 1,150 is the most relevant scenario in the short term. Lower volatility of the Western stock indices and a slight increase of oil prices form a favorable background, but risks connected to the possibility of U.S. expanding sanctions against Russia remain a restraining factor for investors in Russian papers,” investment company Olma’s senior analyst Anton Startsev said.

The U.S. stock index futures remained almost flat on Wednesday morning, the Asian floors showed no common dynamics.

Georgy Vashchenko, head of investment company Freedom Finance’s department of operations on the Russian stock market, expected a mixed opening as no corporate events would be able to grab the market’s focus.

But Andrei Kochetkov, a leading analyst at Otkritie Broker, said that the MOEX Russia Index may grow about 0.5% at the beginning of the day thanks to a slightly positive external background.

“The growth of China’s imports shows that Russian companies have a stable sales market. It is especially true with coal supplies, as China is even cutting its own production. The news flow in the oil industry is also improving, and the Brent oil price may climb above $75 per barrel,” Kochetkov said.

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