Russian stocks seen growing on oil price increase

MOSCOW, Apr 8 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market will likely edge up at opening on Monday due to a significant oil price rise, analyst said.

“After closing of the Russian stock market on Friday, the U.S. market firmed more, although today in the morning, the U.S. indices have been demonstrating a decrease so far. This negative factor will be significantly outweighed by a continuing oil price rise, above U.S. $70 on Friday and eyeing a $71 notch today in the morning,” Alor Broker analyst Alexei Antonov said.

“The pricey oil must balance the falling U.S. index futures to a significant extent at the opening of the market and allow the MOEX Russia Index to open with a small rise.”

Vadim Kravchuk, analyst at investment company Solid, said that the Brent oil soared after the U.S. introduced sanctions against two companies and 34 ships sending crude from Venezuela to Cuba, and these steps will trigger a further reduction of supplies. Political conflicts continue in Libya, which makes exports from the country unstable. This information made investors ignore growth of U.S. drilling rigs by 15 units.

Andrei Kochetkov, analyst at Otkritie Broker, said that the Russian market is lagging behind foreign floors due to possible sanctions, and the MOEX Russia Index can set a new record high later this week. There are not many positive factors for the Russian market besides the rising oil prices.

He said that the political situation is very unstable with a recent G7 meeting held without the U.S. State Secretary and emphasizing serious disagreements about the relations with Iran, the rights for the Golan Heights and the Venezuelan revolt. Companies will start to submit reports for January–March later in the week, and the market expects a worse quarter than the previous one.

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