Russian stocks to open flat on lack of drivers

MOSCOW, Mar 28 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market will open flat on Friday because the political events and the foreign background did not give traders clear signs on what to do, analysts said.

“In general, the background is mixed for the Russian market in the beginning of the day. The U.S. indices’ futures are slowly regaining yesterday’s losses. Asian markets mostly see slightly positive dynamics. Brent prices are getting closer to U.S. $108 per barrel. We expect to see a neutral start of the Russian trading session and we suppose that the MICEX index will continue to move around the current levels, reacting on the signals by foreign background and geopolitical events,” Promsvyazbank analysts said.

Olma analyst Alexei Bystrov said that traders were not surprised by the fact that the U.N. did not recognize the accession of Crimea, and this fact will not hit Russia during the Friday market opening.

The Japanese statistics released earlier in the morning did not spur any noticeable growth on Asian floors, which is why this will have a limited impact on Russia.

Russian investors will focus their attention of the U.S. inflation data, Bystrov said. U.S. consumer sentiment, and personal income and outlays will both be interesting for Russian traders as well, Promsviazbank analyst Oleg Shagov said.

The ousted Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich will hold a press conference on Friday, which might influence the market to a certain extent, Shagov said.

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