Russian stocks seen flat on oil volatility, mixed foreign markets

MOSCOW, Jan 27 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market will open neutrally on Wednesday because oil prices have seen both positive and negative dynamics since Tuesday’s closing, while trends at foreign markets are also mixed, analysts said.

“From a technical point of view, the external background for today’s morning is moderately positive: U.S. stock market indices grew significantly on Tuesday, S&P500 futures are noticeably falling today, Asian indices are not showing a unified dynamics, Brent rose in price but the dynamics has been negative over the last several hours,” UFS IC analyst Alexei Kozlov said.

But according to Vitaly Manzhos, senior analyst at Bank Obrazovanie, the negative trend in oil prices and U.S. stocks futures in the morning can cause a 0.2–0.4% downward gap in the MICEX at the opening.

The MICEX will open at about 1,705–1,710 and will continue consolidation which started on Tuesday, when the trade volume fell to a week low, Oleg Shagov, head of investment company Solid’s research department, said. The RTS is also expected to consolidate, Olma senior analyst Anton Startsev said.

The oil price stabilization at U.S. $30 will support Russian stocks, Startsev said.

Russian traders will monitor U.S. oil reserves figures release later on Wednesday and the results of a two-day meeting of the U.S. Federal Reserve System (Fed), whom the market expects to acknowledge that after a recent interest growth, the situation in the economy has deteriorated, Shagov said.

Trading activity will be low in the second half of the trading session because of the Fed announcement expectations, analysts said.

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