Russian stocks may open flat prior to Christmas

MOSCOW, Dec 23 (PRIME) -- Russian stocks are likely to open flat on Friday as investment activity will be low due to the upcoming Christmas holidays and the external background provided the market with no strong drivers this morning, analysts said.

“We expect to see the Russian stock market opening close to the yesterday closure level of 2,174.6 points of the MICEX index and suppose that the low pre-Christmas activity of Western investors will leave the indicator fluctuating around current levels,” Oleg Shagov, head of investment company Solid’s research department, said.

The Brent oil price contracted only 0.38% to U.S. $54.84 per barrel as of 8.49 a.m. Moscow time, according to the ICE exchange.

Oil price dynamics together with insignificant changes of the U.S. stock index futures, lack of common dynamics in major Asian floors and the European premarket showing possibility of marginal changes this morning – make up a neutral external background prior to the start of trade at the Russian market, Shagov said.

Timur Nigmatullin, an analyst at investment company Finam, said that the external background will not favor purchases at the Russian market, and the MICEX index will remain around current levels during the first half of the day, while the slight contraction of oil prices will result in an about 0.5% fall of the ruble’s exchange rate.

But Vitaly Manzhos, a senior analyst at Bank Obrazovanie, said that the background prior to the opening of the trading session may be characterized as moderately negative, which may lead to a slight decrease of the market of about 0.2–0.3% close to the 2,170 point range of the MICEX index at the beginning of the trade.

“The levels of 2,160 and 2,150 points will become the nearest significant support, while the levels of 2,190 and 2,200 points will act as resistance,” Manzhos said, adding that the background does not favor aggressive sales in Russian shares.

The U.S. University of Michigan’s evening release of the consumer sentiment index may have an impact on the trade, he said.

Shagov also said that investors will focus on the annual news conference of President Vladimir Putin later in the day.

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