Russian stocks to open flat waiting for OPEC, ECB meetings

MOSCOW, Jun 2 (PRIME) -- Russian stocks may open flat on Thursday as investors will be waiting for results of meetings of OPEC and the European Central Bank (ECB) later in the day, analysts said.

“We expect the market to open in a neutral way within the range of 1,895 points of the MICEX index and suppose that the index will stay close to the level and react to changes in the external background and events with volatility,” Oleg Shagov, head of the analytical department of investment company Solid, said.

The OPEC meeting and decisions of the ECB on the monetary policy will become the key external factors for the Russian market today. Data on the U.S. oil reserves may also act as a significant driver for the market, Shagov said.

The general background for the start of the Russian trading session is close to neutral as the Brent oil price rose 0.10% to U.S. $49.77 per barrel as of 8.40 a.m. Moscow time, while the U.S. stock index futures and Asian floors are in the red zone, Shagov added.

“The downward correction of the RTS index may stop at the beginning of trade today as the Brent oil futures returned to a psychologically important level of $50 per barrel prior to the OPEC meeting and due to lower activity of speculators before the ECB meeting,” Anton Startsev, senior analyst at investment company Olma, said.

Still, the Russian market may start the day in the red zone as the foreign background is not positive. “We expect the market to open with a moderate contraction of about 0.2–0.3% of the MICEX index close to 1,890. The levels of 1,880 and 1,870 will become the closest support level, while 1,900 and 1,920 will act as resistance levels,” Vitaly Manzhos, senior analyst at Bank Obrazovanie, said.

Negative dynamics of foreign bourses may weigh on the Russian market, prompting a slight fall at the start of the day, Bogdan Zvarich, an analyst at investment company Finam, said.

Shagov said that financial results of multi-industry holding Sistema and results of a shareholder meeting of retailer Magnit will be interesting for the market.

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