Russian stocks may rise amid weakly positive foreign background

MOSCOW, Sep 18 (PRIME) -- Russian stocks may moderately increase at the opening on Friday amid a weakly positive foreign background, analysts said.

“The Russian market may grow at the beginning of the day and the ruble may strengthen amid rising oil prices. However, the trend towards increased foreign policy risks for Russia before the U.S. presidential elections is also beginning to intensify and may bring unforeseen troubles,” Otkritie Broker analyst Andrei Kochetkov said.

Vitaly Manzhos, senior risk manager at investment company Algo Capital, projects the MOEX Russia Index to increase 0.1–0.5% at the opening, in the range of 2,975–2,985 points.

Before the start of trading in Russia, the U.S. stock index futures are trading mixed within 0.3%, Brent oil futures added 0.7%, China’s Shanghai Composite rose 1.4%, and Japan’s Nikkei225 grew 0.1%, Manzhos said.

Olma senior analyst Anton Startsev said, “Consolidation on the RTS index may continue in the short term. While the dynamics of global energy prices remains relatively favorable for the Russian stock market, the risks associated with the possibility of increasing sanctions pressure on Russia continue to impede the inflow of foreign capital.”

Investors will follow the central bank’s decision on the key rate later in the day, analysts said.

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