Russian stocks to increase as Brent price reaches $35

MOSCOW, Feb 26 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market will demonstrate growth on Friday in the morning because Brent oil prices have hit a psychologically important threshold of U.S. $35 per barrel, analysts said.

“The external background looks quite favorable at the opening of the trading session, -- the Chinese central bank signaled that it is ready to extend economic incentives -- but it does not give reasons for a noticeable pickup in activity,” investment company Olma’s senior analyst Anton Startsev said.

Brent has come closer to a $35 per barrel notch on the news that a meeting between Russia, other non-OPEC and OPEC oil makers on a possible freeze of the output has been scheduled for mid-March, Oleg Shagov, a senior analyst at investment company Solid, said.

A looming expiration of oil futures will add some volatility to the markets. The next Brent futures contract trades with an about $0.5 upward gap to the current one, Shagov said.

Statements from a meeting of the finance ministers and chairmen of the central banks of G20 countries will influence the Russian market trends, Startsev said.

The U.S. will publish an adjusted estimate of the gross domestic product in October–December 2015, which will also affect asset price dynamics in Russia, Startsev said. The U.S. dollar will be under pressure if GDP grows 0.4% or less, which can support oil prices and consequently, the Russian market, Dmitry, Salakhov, an expert at Larson&Holz, said.

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