Russian stocks seen neutral ahead of US Fed meeting

MOSCOW, Dec 16 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market will likely open little changed on Wednesday morning on investor wariness ahead of a meeting of the Federal Reserve System (Fed), analysts said.

"From the point of view of technical analysis, consolidation of the RTS index near 1,400 is possible in the short term. Expectations of a forthcoming adoption of fiscal measures of U.S. economy stimulation support investor optimism, partially compensating for a negative effect of the restrictive measures," Olma analyst Anton Startsev said.

At the same time, activity of global investors can be subdued during the day on expectations of the Fed’s Open Market Committee meeting results, including the asset purchase details, Startsev said.

Alor Broker chief analyst Alexei Antonov said that the Russian market looked very weak on Tuesday, sinking despite a growing U.S. market, which points to the wish to take profit. But there is no real desire to sell, and the market will most probably be neutral in the short term.

The external background ahead of the opening is neutral as the U.S. futures are flat, oil eases, the metals market trades mixed, he said.

Gazprom and Moscow Exchange shares can grow against the market. Gazprom because it did not price in the ended rally and Moscow Exchange because of a continuing investor inflow, Antonov said.

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