Russian stocks to open flat, wait for Putin’s comments

MOSCOW, Dec 19 (PRIME) – The Russian stocks are likely to open neutrally on Thursday in the absence of drivers, analysts said.

“In the short term, consolidation of the RTS Index is likely to continue. While the trend of the MSCI EM stock index is still upward, markets of the developed countries show the signs that the activity of buyers is decreasing partially due to a seasonal factor of the upcoming Catholic Christmas, and partially due to the approval of impeachment to U.S. President Donald Trump by the U.S. House of Representatives,” investment company Olma’s senior analyst Anton Startsev said.

Yelena Kozhukhova, analyst at Veles Capital, said that the global investor mood was neutral as they are waiting for releases of a large amount of macroeconomic data by the U.S. on Thursday. At home, President Vladimir Putin’s news conference will be in focus, she said.

Startsev said though the impeachment has been approved by the lower chamber of the U.S. Congress, the Republicans-controlled Senate is unlikely to support it.

Mikhail Poddubsky, senior analyst at Promsvyazbank, said that the market will shrug off new sanctions.

“During yesterday’s vote, the Foreign Affairs Committee of the U.S. Senate approved the DASKA Act. As we noted before, the bill contains a whole range of sanctions, including tough measures like restrictions against Russia’s sovereign debt…Now the procedure says that the bill will be considered by the whole Senate, but we should note that the Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has flexible powers over the working schedule, so the bill may stay without motion for long,” Poddubsky said.

Georgy Vashchenko, head of the department for operations on the Russian stock market at investment company Freedom Finance, expects the market to start the day flat as there are no important corporate stories in the focus of attention of investors. “The guidance range for the MOEX Russia Index is 3,000–3,030,” he said.

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