Russian stocks to fall on unfavorable environ, US-China spat

MOSCOW, Apr 25 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market is likely to open with a fall on Tuesday as the external background is unfavorable while Washington and Beijing continue their disputes, analysts said.

“The background prior to the start of trade in Russia is negative. The quarrel between the U.S. and China is going on, and Washington’s plans to ban investment in the Chinese hi-tech sectors could have long-term negative consequences,” Andrei Kochetkov, leading analyst for global research at Otkritie research, said.

The oil prices are likely to grow in May when the OPEC+ alliance is to initiate additional output cuts, but the most probable scenario for Tuesday is contraction of oil prices due to pessimistic expectations of the market that the monetary regulators could raise their rates further because of uninspiring economic statistics, Kochetkov said.

Head of Alor Broker’s investment consulting department Alexei Antonov said that the Russian blue chips may start the day with a sideways movement or with a slight fall because of an upcoming long weekend.

“There are no drivers for growth, and almost all dividend announcements have been priced in. Now, one should expect the shares to pick up some speed prior to their dividend cut-offs, and the shares of Sberbank may grow significantly between the May holidays, but we have to live through the Labor Day of May 1. The long weekend coupled with worsening of geopolitical tensions will prevent the market from aggressive purchases,” Antonov said.

The Russian market will be closed on Monday for May Day celebrations.

Antonov also said that the background for the market was negative this morning because the futures for the U.S. stock indices and the oil prices lost 0.2%.

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