Russian stocks may rise on foreign mkt growth, Doha meeting rumors

MOSCOW, Apr 13 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market may increase moderately at the start of the trading session on Wednesday because positive trends prevail on foreign markets, and rumors around the meeting on an oil output freeze in Doha make investors believe that the agreement can be reached, analysts said.

The market trends are mainly driven by the rumors regarding the oil output freeze negotiations in Doha on Sunday, Oleg Shagov, head of investment company Solid’s research department, said. “According to unofficial data, Russia and Saudi Arabia solved the existing disagreements regarding the oil production freeze during bilateral negotiations and the oil treaty can now be reached in Doha regardless of the position of Iran, which has turned down the deal on equal conditions many times.”

U.S. stock market futures and Asian markets are gaining, which will also support Russian stocks, Shagov said.

But oil prices are falling on Wednesday in the morning, which will neutralize the positive factors, Finam analyst Bogdan Zvarich said. “I think, the positive component will outweigh, and as a result, the market will open with a moderate increase of the main indices.”

China’s trade surplus statistics not only caused a rally on Asian markets, but can also strengthen the interest for metals, Olma’s senior analyst Anton Startsev said.

Investors will pay attention to the U.S. statistics: retail sales, producers’ price index and industrial stocks, later on Wednesday, Zvarich said.

Russian market participants will also be waiting for confirmation of the recently released U.S. oil reserve data by API, he said.

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