Russian stocks to open flat amid oil consolidation, US Fed waiting

MOSCOW, Jun 17 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market will see a close to neutral dynamics at the opening of the trading session on Wednesday because investors are waiting for a meeting of the U.S. Federal Reserve System (Fed), while oil prices are flat at about U.S. $64, analysts said.

“I expect a neutral opening of the Russian stock market. A zone of growth resistance which is located near a notch of 1,680, which can be struggled against once more soon, it is still a barrier for the MICEX growth continuation,” Oleg Shagov, head of analytical department at investment company Solid, said.

The factors which usually strongly influence the Russian market trends are positive, Shagov said. The Brent rose 0.05% to U.S. $63.73 per barrel as of 9.12 a.m, Moscow time. The U.S. stocks futures are slightly gaining, while Asian indices show mixed dynamics.

Investors will barely open longs before the U.S. statistical data publication on Wednesday in the evening, Finam analyst Timur Nigmatullin said.

There is an uncertainty over the key rate decision to be made by the Fed, and the Russian market will react to the decision only on Thursday morning, Nigmatullin said.

There is no additional fuel for growth of the Russian market because quarterly expiration is left behind and the period of shareholder register closing for dividends will also soon come to an end, ITInvest analyst Vasily Oleinik said.

The RTS will see a weak dynamics on Wednesday, while the MICEX may rise on the interest to shares of Surgutneftegas, Sberbank and Gazprom, Promsvyazbank analysts Ilya Frolov and Yevgeny Lokhtyukhov said.

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