Russian stocks to fall as oil price contraction stops growth

MOSCOW, Apr 27 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market is likely to contract on Thursday morning as the fall of oil prices will prevent growth of the national shares, analysts said.

“The oil price of below U.S. $80 per barrel will be the main obstacle for the share growth,” Alexei Antonov, head of investment consulting department of Alor Broker, said.

The oil price stands at $78 per barrel on Thursday morning. The U.S. banks are facing more and more problems making investors think about a higher probability of a global recession. With the recent fall, the oil has lost all of the growth that was caused by the unexpected reduction of production by the OPEC+ countries, Antonov said.

It is surprising that the national oil and gas industry has shown no reaction to the fall of oil prices so far, and oil companies Rosneft and Gazprom Neft even grew on Wednesday, but this won’t go on for long time, he said.

“The MOEX Russia Index fell by 0.25% to 2,620.33, and the RTS Index decreased by 0.28% to 1,011.06 (on Wednesday). The indices are starting to ease showing market weakness and exacerbating the risks of a deep correction after an upward rally of several dozens of percentage points,” BitRiver’s financial analyst Vladislav Antonov said.

The recent fall of oil prices also acts as a negative factor for the ruble because it reduces the foreign currency revenue of exporters and the tax contribution to the budget. As soon as the peak of tax payments passes, the ruble will lose more against the dollar.

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