Russian stocks to open flat on lack of drivers, stable oil

MOSCOW, Oct 24 (PRIME) -- Russian stocks are likely to open cloze to flat on Tuesday as the external background provides it with no strong signals and the oil price is showing no noticeable changes in the morning, analysts said.

“The ultimate influence of the key external factors that have a significant impact on behavior of the Russian stock market is close to neutral at the beginning of the day,” Oleg Shagov, head of investment company Solid’s research department, said.

The Brent oil price shaved off 0.035% to U.S. $57.35 per barrel as of 9.09 a.m. Moscow time, according to the ICE exchange. Shagov said that the Brent oil is fluctuating around the current prices expecting a release of industry statistics, which may show a further contraction of the U.S. oil reserves.

Taking into account a slight increase of futures for the U.S. stock indices and no common dynamics of Asian floors, the Russian stock market may open in a 2,060–2,065 range of the MICEX index on Tuesday, Shagov said.

“Technical analysis data points to a possibility of a further downward correction of the RTS index, but does not rule out a slight upward rebound at the beginning of trade. Investors may reduce their risk appetite due to geopolitical uncertainty and prospects of toughening of the U.S. Federal Reserve System’s monetary policy, which is reflected in a higher U.S. stock market volatility index VIS to 11 points yesterday,” Anton Startsev, a leading analysts at investment company Olma, said.

Vitaly Manzhos, a senior risk manager at investment company Nord Capital, said that the Russian market may open with an insignificant increase at around 2,065–2,070 of the MICEX index, and may switch to consolidation later in the day as Monday’s contraction of the Brent oil price and of the U.S. stock indices do not support investor optimism.

Shagov said that investors will track the news flow from investment forum Russia Calling!, a release of financial results by internet giant Yandex and a dividend recommendation of Lukoil’s board of directors.

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