Russian stocks may open flat on oil price rise, US strike in Syria

MOSCOW, Apr 7 (PRIME) -- Russian stocks are likely to open with marginal changes on Friday because of an increasing political uncertainty after the U.S. launched a strike on a Syrian air base, while growing oil prices may balance the negative trend, analysts said.

“The ultimate influence of key external factors that have a significant impact on the Russian financial market is close to neutral today at the start of the day, in our estimates,” Oleg Shagov, head of investment company Solid’s research department, said. On Wednesday, the MICEX closed at 2,056.32.

The MICEX will likely open at 2,055 and can fluctuate near this level later in the day because expectations for external background changes are ambivalent, he said.

Oil price futures jumped above U.S. $55.5 per barrel but the reason was growth in the geopolitical uncertainty after the U.S. applied tomahawk missiles in Syria, Shagov said.

U.S. stock market futures are slightly decreasing, Asian markets are mixed and the European premarket signals a drop at the future trading session start.

Ilya Frolov, a senior capital market analyst at Promsvyazbank, said that foreign markets’ dynamics are moderate as market participants are waiting for prospects of U.S.–China relations to be clarified, and also waiting for the U.S. labor market statistics on Friday and for corporate reports next week.

A recent statement by the U.S. Federal Reserve System that the current stock markets level is seen as quite elevated as compared with historical ones, has been surprising and worrying for investors, Frolov said.

Sberbank will publish a report under Russian Accounting Standards (RAS) for 2016, which, according to Shagov, can influence quotations of some Russian securities on Friday.

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