Russian stocks to fall on oil price decrease, OPEC statements fears

MOSCOW, Jun 5 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market will descend on Friday because of a recent oil price fall and fears that this negative trend will deepen after statements made at an OPEC meeting later in the day, analysts said.

“I expect the opening of the Russian stock market to witness insignificant changes in the MICEX and decline in the U.S. dollar-bound RTS,” Oleg Shagov, head of analytical department at investment company Solid, said.

Brent prices fell to their lows for a month and a half, Shagov said. As of 9.07 a.m., Moscow time on Friday, Brent kept almost flat at U.S. $62.07.

There are rumors that the OPEC will raise oil output quotas on Friday, ITInvest’s analyst Vasily Oleinik said, this is a risk factor for investors in Russian assets, he said.

The ruble is weakening, which gives a negative impulse to the RTS while it is a positive factor for the MICEX, Promsvyazbank analysts Ilya Frolov and Yevgeny Lokhtyukhov said.

The U.S. stock market futures and the key Asian stocks indices were on the negative territory on Friday in the morning, which gives another negative signal to Russian investors, Shagov said.

The decision of Greece to postpone payment to the International Monetary Fund will result in an open conflict with the troika of creditors and it may set a downbeat mood on European stock markets, Frolov and Loktyukhov said.

Russian stocks are already quite oversold and an upward correction is possible closer to the end of the day, the analysts said.

The U.S. non-farm payrolls data release and the European gross domestic product (GDP) figures posting may affect the Russian market trends on Friday, they said.

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