Russian stocks seen falling on COVID-19 anxiety, low oil price

MOSCOW, Mar 23 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market will likely open lower on Monday because the coronavirus anxiety continues to gain momentum, and the oil prices have failed to recover sufficiently, analysts said.

"The spread of coronavirus is still drawing all the attention of investors. And as we can see, there are no changes for the better. The opposite: the rate of contagion outside China has grown, quarantines are introduced in a growing number of regions," Alor Broker analyst Alexei Antonov said.

"That’s why there is nothing special about the American futures opening with a strong decline after partially recovering from a strong sale, besides, the S&P500 futures opened with a 5% downward gap."

The New York authorities said that the majority of companies would close and people were to stay home. Rumors appeared that the U.S. stock markets could be halted indefinitely, all these reports and speculations, according to Sergei Drozdov, analyst at investment company Finam, pressure the foreign markets down.

The oil prices fell below the U.S. $25 threshold on Monday morning but after that, rose to $26 per barrel, Antonov said on reports that the U.S. might consider reducing oil production.

Olma senior analyst Anton Startsev said that the fact that the U.S. Senate failed to agree on measures of economic amid the coronavirus is adds to the global worries.

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