Russian stocks to lose gains as oil slides below $30

MOSCOW, Jan 20 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market will correct downwards at Wednesday opening because oil prices did not manage to consolidate above the U.S. $30 level, analysts said.

“We expect a negative opening of the Russian stock market today in a range between 1,635 and 1,640 of the MICEX and assume that in the conditions of a deteriorating external background the Russian stock market will again find itself under the sales pressure, and the ruble will restart weakening as compared with the U.S. dollar,” Oleg Shagov, head of investment company Solid’s research department, said.

Brent futures slid beyond $30 per barrel again on the back of an International Energy Agency (IEA) forecast that Iranian and non-OPEC countries’ oil supplies will cause market overflooding, Olma senior analyst Anton Startsev said.

On Wednesday in the morning, Brent fell 1.70% to U.S. $28.27 per barrel at 9:01 a.m. Moscow time.

Global investors are also saddened by an International Monetary Fund (IMF) 2016–2017 latest global economic outlook. Developing economies, most of all, China will be dragging down the global gross domestic product. The Russian economy will remain in recession, which is also bad news, UFS IC analyst Alexei Kozlov said.

U.S. stock market futures and Asian stocks are sliding, which does not leave the Russian market chances for growth on Wednesday, he said.

U.S. housing construction figures and a Goldman Sachs financial report will influence the Russian market dynamics to some extent later in the day, Startsev said.

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