Russian stocks seen opening flat on oil price fluctuations

MOSCOW, Jul 13 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market will likely open with marginal changes on Wednesday because the oil dynamics give investors no clue of the trends, analysts said.

“The influence of the key external factors, which affect the Russian financial market’s behavior significantly, is expected close to neutral today at the start of the day,” Oleg Shagov, head of investment company Solid’s research department, said.

Oil prices are below a U.S. $48 per barrel mark, the U.S. stock market futures are easing, and the European premarket signals a downward gap at the opening. However, Asian markets are growing, which makes for a mostly neutral background, Shagov said.

Ilya Frolov, an analyst at Promsvyazbank, said that investors worldwide are waiting for the central banks to make coordinated moves to protect market stability amid the U.K. and E.U. divorce. A good start of the U.S. corporate report season also supports bullish moods.

The RTS can suspend the growth on the unclear oil price dynamics, Anton Startsev, a leading analyst at investment company Olma, said.

Shagov said that a meeting of a council for strategic development and priority projects to be chaired by President Vladimir Putin will provide important information for investors later on Wednesday.

On the corporate stage, the results release by Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works (MMK) and Etalon, as well as the ex-dividend date of Sistema will be important marketwise. The negative influence of Sistema’s ex-dividend date on the MICEX is expected at 0.85%, Shagov said.

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