Russian stocks to open down on Greek woes, dividend cutoffs

MOSCOW, Jun 26 (PRIME) -- Russian stocks are likely to open lower on Friday as Greece is nearing a default without a debt restructuring deal, while dividend cutoffs in shares of some Russian firms will also hurt the market, analysts said.

“The technical analysis data shows that a further downward correction in the RTS index is possible. Leaders of the E.U. countries have in fact abandoned the Greece’s debt problem and passed the issue to the finance ministers, which are to meet again on Saturday,” Olma senior analyst Anton Startsev said.

Several weeks ago there was hardly any doubt that Greece may leave the Eurozone, while now about a third of investors and politicians does not rule it out. The next meeting may be final, as Greece has to pay almost 1.6 billion euros to the IMF on June 30. Considering the fact that any bill approved on Saturday is to be passed by parliament, chances for a positive outcome are slim, Vasily Oleinik, analyst at ITInvest, said.

“We expect the opening of the trading session to be neutral or slightly negative and suppose that its dynamics will be affected by the wave of dividend cutoffs in the shares of Rosneft, M.Video, Enel WGC-5 and other companies,” Oleg Shagov, senior analyst at Bank Obrazovanie, said.

Moreover, expectations of the U.S. Federal Reserve System’s toughening of its credit policy are exerting more and more pressure on the Russian market, Olma’s Startsev added.

During the day, investors will focus on domestic corporate news as many major companies like gas giant Gazprom, oil company Tatneft and hydropower giant RusHydro have their annual shareholder meetings. Oil major Rosneft will publish its report for January–March under International Financial Reporting Standards, Shagov added.

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