Russian stocks to open flat as market hits resistance

MOSCOW, Apr 14 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market will change little on Tuesday because indices and oil prices are about to hit resistance in the absence of strong incentives to break through them, analysts said.

“There is no reason for strong market dynamics. Technical analysis says that the RTS is still testing a 1,000 level,” Olma senior analyst Anton Startsev said.

The MICEX will be trading in a 1,660 and 1,680 range, analysts said.

Oil prices and the ruble are likely to continue falling and they will still be the main drivers for the Russian stocks, Andrei Dirgin, analyst at Alfa-Forex, said.

On Tuesday in the morning, Brent rose 0.88% to U.S. $58.44 at 9.18 a.m., Moscow time.

“We think that market participants may take a pause today and wait until a more focused dynamics at foreign markets appears as a result of a meeting of the European Central Bank, U.S. corporate reports and Chinese statistics,” Promsvyazbank said in a research note.

Investors will also pay attention to the euro zone’s industrial output and to the U.S. retail figures on Tuesday, Startsev said.

Russian stocks are very likely to continue rising later this week because the U.S. is poised to release statistics confirming high oil reserves on Wednesday, Finam analyst Anton Soroko said.

On Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin will have a live broadcasted conversation with people, such events have been traditionally perceived positively by market participants, he said.

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