Russian stocks may recover after several sessions of losses

MOSCOW, Jul 16 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market may open with marginal changes on Friday and grow later in the day to bounce back from a strong support line, reached during the past several sessions of losses, as investors take profit from their short positions ahead of the weekend, analysts said.

“There were sales on the Russian stock market during the past three consecutive sessions. The MOEX Russia Index has reached the area of a strong support of slightly below 3,800 so a technical rebound is highly likely given the fact that speculators will close short positions ahead of the weekend,” Alor Broker analyst Alexei Antonov said.

Vitaly Manzhos, senior risk manager at investment company Algo Capital, sees the MOEX Russia Index opening with marginal changes of 0.1–0.3% within a 3,790–3,805 range amid a slightly negative foreign environment.

The main U.S. indices futures are growing around 0.1% and Asian markets are seen 0.2–0.6% lower, he said.

Promsvyazbank analyst Yekaterina Krylova said that the Brent oil price is finishing the week with a fall to below U.S. $74 per barrel despite an agreement between the OPEC+ states and UAE due to the risk of a further rise in production by other participants of the OPEC+ oil production cut deal.

Investors in Russia are also likely to follow a slew of financial and operating results releases for April–June by diamond producer ALROSA, steel maker Severstal, grocery retailer X5 Retail, and stevedore operator Global Ports.

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