Russian stocks may start Friday trade with upward rebound

MOSCOW, May 13 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market is likely to start the Friday main trade session with a correctional upward rebound supported by the favorable external background, analysts said.

“If we talk about the mood of players on the international markets as of Friday morning, we may say that it is positive. The leading Asian indices are growing by up to 2.5% on Friday morning, the futures for the main U.S. indices are gaining up to 1%, and the closest futures for the Brent oil is climbing up 1.9% to around U.S. $109.6 per barrel,” Bogdan Zvarich, senior analyst at financial supermarket Banki.ru, said.

The national market could make an attempt for a correctional growth as the external background favors that as well as the closing of short positions in the Russian shares prior to the weekend. As a result, the MOEX Russia Index may try to stay in the range of 2,300–2,350 today if new geopolitical risks do not emerge, Zvarich said.

Vasily Karpunin, head of the department for information and analytical content at BCS World of Investment, said that there is no correlation between the Russian market and the Western bourses right now, and dynamics of the national market depend on the internal factors.

“The strong ruble is one of the most important drivers for contraction of the Russian stock market, namely the shares of export-oriented companies. Their share in the MOEX Russia Index exceeds 60%, and they are unlikely to start growing any time soon given the current exchange rate,” Karpunin said.

The chances of the MOEX Russia Index sliding down to the closest support level of 2,170–2,240 are high, and the fall of the heavyweight shares of gas companies could ensure that. A short-term upward rebound is possible at the beginning of the trade on Friday, but the sellers may exert their pressure later in the day, he said.

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