Russian stocks to fall at opening in reaction to oil prices

MOSCOW, May 10 (PRIME) -- Russian stocks are likely to open lower on Wednesday as local investors will price in oil prices that fell during the Victory Day holidays, analysts said.

“Today, the background prior to the opening of the Russian stock market is moderately negative. The major negative factor for the Russian assets is contraction on the energy market, where the Brent oil price has lost about 1% since the Friday (May 5) level and fallen to around the U.S. $49 per barrel mark,” Bogdan Zvarich, an analyst at investment company Finam, said.

Compared with the May 5 levels, the European bourses showed a slight increase backed by Emmanuel Macron’s victory in the French presidential elections, while the U.S. floors remained almost flat. “Judging by the current situation, we expect a slight contraction of the Russian stock indices at the beginning of the day,” Zvarich said.

Oleg Shagov, head of investment company Solid’s research department, said that the U.S. stock index futures are easing at the beginning of Wednesday, while the Asian floors are trading mixed. Premarket trading in Europe points to a slight decrease of the leading European stock indices at the beginning of the day.

Shagov also said that local investors will track the dynamics of the oil market, as well as the world macro statistics, including the U.S. Department of Energy data on hydrocarbon reserves. Among local events, investors will wait for financial results of top bank Sberbank for April, financial results of gold producer Polyus for January–March, and operating results of uncut diamond mining giant ALROSA.

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