Russian stocks seen opening flat as oil prices withstand pressure

MOSCOW, Nov 24 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market will likely open near Tuesday’s closing on Wednesday because the U.S. measures to cut oil prices have proven to be ineffective, analysts said.

"I expect a neutral market opening today. Investors will unlikely be active ahead of the release of important gross domestic product (GDP) data for the third quarter and protocols of the November meeting of the Federal Reserve System (Fed)," Andrei Vernikov, head of investment analysis department of Investment Group Univer, said.

He said that the U.S. president miscalculated the step to support his popularity: the sale of 50 million barrels of oil from the strategic reserves within several months. With partners, India, China and South Korea, the release will total 70 million barrels, while global consumption amounts to 100 million barrels per day. The OPEC+ agreement participants might cut the increase in production planned for January, easily defeating this measure.

As a result, the oil prices remained at U.S. $79–86.3, Vernikov said.

He added that the oversold Russian market will be additionally supported by Finance Ministry's promise to repay Rusnano’s debt backed by state guarantees.

Vasily Karpunin, head of department of information research at BCS World of Investment, said that the oil prices reached a historical maximum in rubles, or 6,100, this is why, the local oil companies are undervalued.

He added that the external background for the start of the session is mixed, as the S&P 500 futures lost 0.15% and the bulk of the Asian markets fell. The oil prices stabilized at $82.3.

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