Russian stocks may open mixed as markets offer no clear drivers

MOSCOW, Jan 30 (PRIME) – The Russian stocks are likely to open mixed on Thursday as the soft rhetoric of the U.S. Federal Reserve System (Fed) supports the global markets, while worries about the coronavirus have a negative impact, analysts said.

“Today, the RTS Index may continue its downward correction under the influence of the external background. International traders still favor the defensive assets, in spite of rather soft rhetoric of the Fed chairman following the open markets committee meeting and of positive reports of U.S. corporations,” investment company Olma’s senior analyst Anton Startsev said.

The flight for quality is explained to a large degree by uncertainty about the scale of impact of the new coronavirus on the global economy, Startsev said.

Investment company Veles Capital’s analyst Yelena Kozhukhova said the mood on theinternational stock and commodity floors were stable on Wednesday, but “purchases were meeker, supporting the idea that recent growth was only a correction,” she said.

“The Fed’s position on its further policy was obviously soft, which may add some upward momentum to the U.S. stocks and push other bourses up on Thursday. Apart from this, there a risks for risky assets to start suffering from losses in the second half of the week,” Kozhukhova said.

Georgy Vashchenko, head of the department for operations on the Russian stock market at investment company Freedom Finance, said that the company expected the national market to open mixed as it will price in the results of the Fed’s meeting and a slew of corporate reports from the U.S.

“The guidance for the MOEX Russia Index is the range of 3,100–3,130,” Vashchenko said.

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