Russian stocks may open flat on no ideas for growth

MOSCOW, Jul 25 (PRIME) -- Russian stocks may open flat on Thursday amid the absence of significant drivers for growth, analysts said.

“The foreign background looks moderately positive today in the morning. After our closure (on Wednesday) the U.S. stock markets grew, their futures are trading within a 0.2% plus now, and oil is bouncing back after a fall. Everything suggests that our market should open with a slight increase,” Alor Broker analyst Alexei Antonov said, adding that “it is far from certain” because traders might use any rise of the market “to shorten their positions.”

Andrei Kochetkov, senior analyst at Otkritie Broker, said that “indices may show a slight decrease at the start of the day, with the MOEX Russia Index renewing local minimums, which shows that the market is weak amid no ideas for growth.”

Asian indices are mostly rising, but this positive signal is balanced by a drop in quotes for industrial metals and lower oil, Kochetkov said.

Vadim Kravchuk, analyst at investment company Solid, said that investors will pay attention to corporate reports of leading companies in the U.S., including Facebook, Tesla, and Ford, and to a meeting to the European Central Bank.

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