Russian stocks to open higher as foreign markets firm

MOSCOW, Apr 27 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market will open higher on Monday following foreign bourses, analysts said.

“The Russian stock market will open with growth today. The growth of American stock indices and oil prices on the commodities market will help it open up to 0.5% higher,” 2trade.ru brokerage said in a research note.

The Brent blend has added U.S. $0.3, while the ruble has grown to the dollar to about 50.

The market will focus on reports of Apple Inc, Barrick Gold Corporation, Hilltop Holdings Inc, Mercury General Corporation, Overstock Com Inc, Timmins Gold Corp, Waste Connections Inc. and Germany’s imports price statistics release and the U.S. purchasing managers’ index (PMI), analysts said.

Andrei Dirgin, analyst at Alfa-Forex, warned that as the tax period is over soon, the ruble will fall, pushing the dollar-denominated index down.

“As I see it, there is no reason for a decrease of the Russian market now. I assume that the indices will continue to move upwards but negative dynamics of the ruble may stop the rise of the RTS,” he said.

The RTS is likely to consolidate for some time to avoid being overbought, Olma analyst Anton Startsev said.

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