Russian stocks to fall slightly as oil prices no longer rise

MOSCOW, Aug 16 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market will likely open with a small downward gap on Tuesday because oil prices have retracted from their recent peaks ahead of U.S. statistics’ release, analysts said.

“A halt in an increase of the RTS index is possible today in the start of trading. The oil price growth has slowed down before U.S. reserves data release (API will submit the report today in the evening, tomorrow, the Energy Ministry),” Olma senior analyst Anton Startsev said.

“We qualify the global market situation today as slightly negative (Brent is declining from local peaks, U.S. stock market futures are slightly going down), which makes us fear for a small retraction on our stock market,” Yevgeny Loktyukhov, head of the capital market analysis department at Promsvyazbank, said.

Brent declined 0.66% to U.S. $48.03 per barrel as of 9:35 a.m. Moscow time. It is still not far away from the two-week maximums, which is why the negative influence on the Russian market will be limited, Vitaly Manzhos, a senior analyst at Bank Obrazovanie, said.

The RTS has reached a resistance zone of 970–975, which increases the possibility of a growth suspension, Startsev said.

The MICEX will probably “be tested from above the zone it exceeded yesterday, or 1,695–1,970,” Loktyukhov said.

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