Russian stocks to grow following oil price jump, Ukrainian poll

MOSCOW, Apr 22 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market will likely grow on Monday at the start of the trading session due to an increase of oil prices and election of Vladimir Zelensky as the president of Ukraine, analysts said.

“The external background will start to take shape only in the second half of the day at best (Germany and the U.K. are still on holidays). Although, the Russian market will reflect rising oil prices in the morning, whose the quotes jumped above a U.S. $74 per barrel level in the early hours of the morning,” Alor Broker analyst Alexei Antonov said.

According to Antonov, the reason for the oil price increase was the news that the U.S. can declare entrance in force of a full prohibition of Iranian oil purchases.

He said that the Russian market can also react positively to election of Zelensky as the president of Ukraine. “We should not expect any groundbreaking change in relations between Russia and Ukraine but at least (Russian President Vladimir) Putin is ready to talk to Zelensky.”

Gazprom is the likely beneficiary of the thaw in the relations, as Ukraine’s claims against the company can decrease.

Finam analyst Sergei Drozdov said that the support level for the MOEX Russia Index stands at 2,540, and large-scale market sales can begin if the index falls below that level. The local support level for the RTS Index stands at 1,234 and resistance at 1,251.

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