Russian stocks seen flat as US, China not ready to sign deal

MOSCOW, Aug 12 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market will likely open with marginal changes on Monday on the news that the U.S. and China are not ready to sign a trade agreement, analysts said.

“A neutral external background is being formed at the start of the new week. The Russian indices will start the trade slightly above the level of Friday’s closing, which is in part due to positive dynamics of the Chinese indices and oil during the Asian session. As for the situation as a whole, the key risks remain on the agenda, besides, the trade disagreements between the U.S. and China keep mounting,” Vadim Kravchuk, analyst at investment company Solid, said.

U.S. President Donald Trump said on August 9 that the U.S. is not ready to sign a trade deal with China, and there is a great probability that new duties will be slapped on Chinese goods in September and retaliation from China will follow, Kravchuk said.

Olma senior analyst Anton Startsev said that uncertainty over the preliminary elections in Argentina, where an opposition candidate is seemingly winning, might weaken the interest in developing markets’ assets.

Georgy Vashchenko, head of investment company Freedom Finance’s department for trade operations on the Russian stock market, said that safer assets, such as the shares of Norilsk Nickel, Polyus and Surgutneftegas will be the market leaders on Monday.

The analyst forecasted the MOEX Russia Index range at 2,600–2,650.

Alexei Korenev, investment company Finam’s analyst, said that publication of Russia’s quarterly gross domestic product (GDP) figures will be in the focus of investors’ attention.

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