Russian stocks may rise as oil consolidates above $50

MOSCOW, Jul 4 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market may increase on Monday in the morning because oil prices have consolidated above the U.S. $50 level, while investor activity will be lower than usual as the U.S. bourses will be closed for the Independence Day, analysts said.

“The influence of the key factors which significantly affect the behavior of the Russian financial market is moderately positive today in the start of the day in our estimates,” Oleg Shagov, head of the research department at investment company Solid, said.

The oil futures again increased above U.S. $50 per barrel on reports about new attacks on oil infrastructure in Nigeria, Shagov said.

U.S. stock market futures are slightly rising, as well as the Asian stocks, and the European premarket signals an opening in the green zone, Shagov said.

The U.S. trading floors will be closed on Monday for the Independence Day, which is why the activity of global investors will be lower than usual, Shagov said.

The MICEX will likely open at about 1,900, he said. The RTS can continue its growth on Monday but there will be no confident upward trend due to low investor activity, Olma’s senior analyst Anton Startsev said.

MTS and Severstal’s shares will be affected by the ex-dividend date falling for Monday. The downward pressure of these securities on the MICEX is estimated at 0.2%, Shagov said.

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