Russian stocks seen flat on mixed reports by foreign companies

MOSCOW, Apr 26 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market will likely open with marginal changes on Wednesday, as a negative financial report by U.S. First Republic Bank is balanced by robust performance by most other companies and banks, analysts said.

"The external background before the start of Russian trade is neutral. On the one hand, the banking crisis reminded of itself in a report by First Republic Bank, on the other hand, most company reports were positive. Oil has managed to rise because of a fall of the U.S. reserves," Otkritie Research analyst Andrei Kochetkov said.

The analyst also said that the local market will be supported by skeptical statements of politicians from many states about the possibility of an almost full prohibition of exports to Russia and a lower oil price ceiling.

BitRiver financial analyst Vladislav Antonov said that the MOEX Russia Index grew by 9% within 25 trading sessions and is overbought. "There are signals of weakness and the lack of buyers to take the prices higher," he said.

According to Kochetkov, Tuesday’s downward correction cannot be called strong because of low trade volumes.

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