Russian stocks to fall on Obama’s threat of further sanctions

MOSCOW, Mar 27 (PRIME) -- Russian stocks may open with sales on Thursday amid risks of the Ukrainian crisis escalation on warnings of the U.S. President Barack Obama that political and economic sanctions against Moscow may be expanded, analysts said.

The Russian stocks may correct down at opening as investors are not willing to take risks after Obama said that economic and political sanctions against Moscow could be expanded if Russia doesn’t change its position on Ukraine, Dmitry Kulakov, director of Olma’s shares department.

The trading session may start with a 0.4% decrease of the MICEX index, Promsvyazbank senior analyst Oleg Shagov said. Prior to the opening, futures on the U.S. indices are attempting to play back losses incurred by investors’ reaction to Obama’s speech, Asian markets are falling, and prices for Brent oil is around U.S. $107.

Nord-Capital analyst Vitaly Manzhos expects the MICEX index to decrease 0.5% to the range of 1,340–1,345 points following the fall of the U.S. stocks on Wednesday.

Trends on the market may change during the day after releases of retail sales in the U.K., and GDP and initial jobless claims in the U.S., Manzhos said.

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