Russian stocks seen rising at opening as oil price grows

MOSCOW, Nov 8 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market is likely to open with a moderate increase on Monday on a noticeable growth of oil prices, analysts said.

“The situation is international situation is favorable now, this is why an upward rebound is possible,” Alor Broker senior analyst Alexei Antonov said.

“The most important thing is that the oil price is still rising after a fall to U.S. $80 per barrel. There is still fuel deficit is in the world, and even a possible sale of oil from the U.S. strategic reserves will not change the situation.”

Last week the Russian market was weak and ignored growth of the U.S. indices due to a high central bank key rate and expectations of its further increase. A contraction of fuel prices exacerbated the situation, but the Monday rise of oil price creates the prerequisites for purchases of oil companies, Antonov said.

“We expect the MOEX Russia Index to open with a moderate increase of 0.1–0.4% in the range of 4,180–4,190. The levels of 4,170 and 4,150 will act as the closest support, while 4,200 and 4,220 will become the resistance. In the first few minutes of trade, the MOEX Russia Index will price in the significant increase of futures for the oil,” Vitaly Manzhos, senior risk manager at investment company Algo Capital, said.

Other than the 1.1% increase of the Brent oil price, the background for the Russian market is mixed, as the futures for the U.S. indices fell by 0.1–0.4%, the Chinese index Shanghai Composite increased by 0.3%, and the Japanese index Nikkei225 lost 0.2%, Manzhos said.

The statements that the U.S. Federal Reserve System and the European Central Bank are to make later in the day may have an indirect impact on the Russian stock market, he added.

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