Russian stocks to open higher on rising oil prices

MOSCOW, Sep 1 (PRIME) -- Russian stocks are likely to edge up at opening on Friday as investors will price in Thursday’s oil price growth, analysts said.

“We expect the Russian stock market to open higher today at the beginning of trade supported by a positive external background. The oil market has continued to restore, which allowed the Brent oil price to hold above the level of U.S. $52.5 per barrel,” Bogdan Zvarich, an senior analyst at investment company Freedom Finance, said.

Foreign trading floors will also support the local market, as the U.S. stock indices Dow Jones and S&P500 gained 0.3% and 0.6% on Thursday, respectively, and futures for the indices are gaining up to 0.1% early on Friday. The Asian floors are also in the green zone, Zvarich said.

Andrei Kochetkov, an analyst at Otkritie Broker, said that the external background for the Russian market is also supported by prices for industrial metals. But purchases will be somewhat restrained as researcher Markit said that Russia’s Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) fell to 51.6 points in August from 52.7 points in July.

Trading volumes will be moderate until the release of key U.S. statistics, including jobless claims, a ISM Manufacturing report, and the Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index, he said.

“We expect the MICEX index to keep the growth momentum today and think that it will test its 200-day average level of 2,035 during the day. The capability of the index to hold above the line depends on the situation at external markets,” Yervgeny Loktyukhov, head of the stock market research department at Promsvyazbank, said.

“Thanks to a stronger ruble, we expect to see strong dynamics in internal sectors and in some strong oil shares, like Lukoil and Tatneft, that may react to the growth of the ruble price of oil.”

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