Russian stocks may open flat on no strong drivers

MOSCOW, Oct 6 (PRIME) -- Russian stocks are likely to open with insignificant changes on Thursday as the external background provides them with no drivers, analysts said.

“We expect the market to open with marginal changes of the MICEX index at around a 1,975 point mark. The levels of 1,965 and 1,950 points will act as the closest support, while the levels of 1,990 and 2,000 points will act as significant resistance,” Vitaly Manzhos, a senior analyst at Bank Obrazovanie, said.

Oleg Shagov, head of investment company Solid research department, said that the ultimate influence of the key external factors that affect the Russian stock market is close to neutral at the beginning of the day. The Brent oil price slid 0.465% to U.S. $51.62 per barrel as of 9.08 a.m. Moscow time, according to the ICE exchange, while the U.S. stock index futures are close to zero and main Asian floors are showing slightly positive dynamics.

“Prices of December futures for the Brent grew yesterday due to information about contraction of reserves and production of oil in the U.S., but now they are under pressure as the market is worried about higher production of shale oil due to growing prices for black gold,” Shagov said.

The MICEX will open near Wednesday’s closing of 1,975.9 and will consolidate around current figures waiting for new external signals, Shagov said.

Sergei Kozlovsky, head of research department at brokerage company Grand Capital, said that the Russian stock market is unable to break through a recent all-time high, which means that the market has no fundamental grounds to resume an upward movement. “It looks like the Russian market has just hit an invisible wall,” he said.

During the day, investors will focus on minutes of the European Central Bank’s meeting on monetary policy and U.S. weekly jobless claims statistics, Kozlovsky added.

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