Russian stocks to open flat as UK elections bring uncertainty

MOSCOW, Jun 9 (PRIME) -- Russian stocks are likely to open flat on Friday as political uncertainty that ensues the U.K. parliamentary elections will depress investor activity at a time when oil prices are easing, analysts said.

“Today, a lull is possible on the market. Preliminary results of the British parliamentary elections show the worsening of political uncertainty and complicate the Brexit process, as none of the parties is expected to receive 50% of seats in parliament. This may have a general negative impact on investor activity,” investment company Olma’s chief analyst Anton Startsev said.

The Brent oil price went down 0.084% to U.S. $47.82 per barrel as of 9.11 a.m. Moscow time, according to the ICE exchange.

Oleg Shagov, head of investment company Solid’s research department, said that the general background prior to the opening of the Russian stock market is close to neutral as the U.S. stock index futures are changing insignificantly and the Asian floors show no common dynamics, he said.

“We expect the market to open close to 1,875 points of the MICEX index and suppose that the stock indicator will remain around the current level later in the day,” Shagov said.

Bogdan Zvarich, an analyst at investment company Finam, also said that the background for the Russian market in the morning is neutral as oil prices are at the level where they were when Russian stocks closed on Thursday.

“The conditions prompt us to expect a flat line in Russian shares at the beginning of the day. The launch of trade at the European markets is unlikely to bring any noticeable changes in the situation,” Zvarich said.

Short positions are likely to be closed on the energy market, which may allow the Brent price to regain part of recent losses and support shares of Russian companies, Zvarich added.

Shagov also said that investor activity will be low ahead of monetary policy decisions of the U.S. Federal Reserve System and central banks of England, Japan and Russia to be released next week.

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