Russian stocks may rise at opening on growth of oil prices

MOSCOW, Jul 21 (PRIME) -- Russian stocks are likely to open with an increase on Thursday thanks to support from oil prices, which managed to climb above the level of U.S. $47 per barrel, analysts said.

The Brent oil price grew 0.569% to $47.44 per barrel as of 9.03 a.m. Moscow time, according to the ICE exchange.

“A slight increase is possible today at the beginning of trade. The weekly contraction of crude oil reserves in the U.S. turned out to be wider than expected, according to data of the Department of Energy, and this fact supported the prices for energy sources,” Anton Startsev, a leading analyst at investment company Olma, said.

The general background prior to the start of the trading session is slightly positive due to the oil price growth, while U.S. stock index futures are changing insignificantly and main Asian floors are in the green zone, Oleg Shagov, head of investment company Solid’s analytical department, said.

“We expect to see the Russian stock market’s opening within the range of 1,920–1,925 points of the MICEX index and suppose that intra-day dynamics of the Russian stock market will depend on changes in oil prices, Western stock indicators, changes in the ruble’s rate, publications of economic statistics data, and current events,” Shagov said.

During the first minutes of trading, the MICEX index is likely to price in improvements on the oil market. “We expect the market to open with a moderate increase of about 0.3% of the MICEX index in the range of 1,920–1,925 points. The levels of 1,910 and 1,900 points will remain as closest support levels, while the 1,930 and 1,950 point marks will act as resistance,” Vitaly Manzhos, a senior analyst at Bank Obrazovanie, said.

One of the most important events of the day that may have an impact on trading is comments of the European Central Bank after its meeting on the monetary policy, which will be announced at 2.45 p.m. Moscow time, Startsev said.

Russian corporate events that should be noted during the day include publications of operating results by uncut diamond mining giant ALROSA, retailer Lenta, and coal producer Raspadskaya and also financial results of steelmaker Severstal, Shagov said.

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