Russian stocks to slip at open with focus on possible sanctions

MOSCOW, Mar 17 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market may slip at Monday’s opening as investors are waiting to see which sanctions Western countries will impose on Moscow after the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea voted for joining Russia, analysts said.

“The most probable scenario, in my view, is opening with a downward gap of 0.5% on the MICEX index. However, I don’t rule out that under the absence of strict measures and statements from Western leaders regarding economic sanctions the fall can be played back quickly,” Investcafe analyst Andrei Shenk said.

The MICEX index closed losing 0.89% to 1.237.43 at the previous session, and the RTS index went down 1.43% to 1.062.47.

“After statements from most of Western countries’ heads on the inability of their military participation in the Ukrainian territorial conflict, there is every ground to think that the negative reaction of Russian investors was excessive. According to the U.S. and E.U. leaders, the reaction of Western partners will likely comprise visa restrictions for Russian state employees,” Veles Capital analysts said in a note.

The soft approach proves that Western partners want to maintain relations with Russia.

“It means that when the Crimean issues leave the agenda, we could see a rebound to February levels, or 1,300–1,350 points of the RTS index,” Veles Capital said.

The Brent oil futures for May 14 rose 0.03% to U.S. $108.31 per barrel as of 9 a.m. Moscow time.

During the day, the E.U. will release its consumer price index for February; and the U.S will report on the net long-term Treasury International Capital flows for January and industrial production for February.

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