Russian stocks seen neutral on flat oil prices, foreign markets

MOSCOW, Sep 17 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market will likely open near the closing of the Thursday session on Friday because the dynamics of oil prices and foreign markets is mixed and close to neutral, analysts said.

"The external background is mixed today in the morning. American indices rebounded on Thursday after the closing of our main session. Asian markets are mixed and do not show a unified dynamics. The S&P 500 futures are falling 0.1%. Brent has lost 0.2% to the level of about U.S. $75.5," Director of BCS Broker’s stock market experts department Vasily Karpunin said.

The analyst added that the MOEX Russia Index would likely open near the level of closing of Thursday.

Otkritie Broker analyst Andrei Kochetkov said that new tax initiatives of the Finance Ministry will be the main topic of discussion in the near future. The ministry offers to raise profit tax for companies that pay dividends damaging the investments.

A possible decrease of gas prices and the tax initiatives can form a downward trend on the Russian market, he said.

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