Russian stocks to ease at opening on falling oil, sales abroad

MOSCOW, Jun 20 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market may start the Tuesday trading session with a slight fall as the oil price falls and foreign markets are dominated by sales, analysts said.

“The external background also doesn’t call for any purchases this morning. The futures for the U.S. stock indices are moderately in the red, and the oil price lost about a third of a percentage point,” said Alexei Antonov, head of Alor Broker investment consulting department.

There are no great drivers for the overbought market to continue growth and a slight correction and thinking about what it should do next would be good, he said.

Cifra Broker said in a research note that the outlook was moderately negative because Japanese index Nikkei225 lost 0.2% and Chinese index Shanghai Composite fell by 0.3%.

“We expect that the MOEX Russia Index will remain close to 2,800 today. Volatility in the key shares remains low. Although the index grew yesterday, we fear that the buyers can prevail because the technical picture in many securities is worsening,” Promsvyazbank senior analyst Alexei Golovinov said.

“Also, there are no other positive triggers right now, because the external background remains negative, and the oil price and the ruble move sideways.”

But BitRiver financial analyst Vladislav Antonov said the ruble’s dynamics may support the market.

“The ruble’s weakening supports the stock market, this is why the buyers are not rushing to close long positions. The MOEX Russia Index may test the level of 2,82,” he said.

“In general, the Russian currency market and the oil market are still on the rise even though they are under the impact of the external factors like the Chinese economic uncertainty. The ruble is also still under the influence of the international geopolitical situation.”

Alor’s Antonov said that metals grew on a statement of steelmaker Severstal’s CEO Alexander Shevelyov about strong operating figures in the second quarter and that Severstal had not suspended its dividend payments forever.

“It is obvious that the main competitors of Severstal – Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works (MMK) and Novolipetsk Steel (NLMK) – are in similar conditions, and one can expect great performance from them as well. As soon as one steelmaker announces dividends, the others will be very likely to take up the initiative, he said.

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