Stocks to extend Wednesday’s gains early helped by falling ruble

MOSCOW, Mar 2 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market is likely to open with a slight increase on Thursday thanks to the ruble’s fall against the U.S. dollar and extending the purchases of Wednesday evening, analysts said.

“We expect trading in Russia to start with a moderate increase of up to 0.7% of the MOEX Russia Index in the range of 2,280–2,295. The levels of 2,270 and 2,250 will act as the closest support, while 2,300 and 2,320 will become the resistance. The MOEX Russia Index may edge up at opening today in spite of the mixed impact from the external background,” Algo Capital senior risk manager Vitaly Manzhos said.

The futures for the U.S. stock indices traded mixed with changes of up to 0.6%, and the Brent oil price is almost flat. The futures for gold lost 0.3%, the Chinese stock index Shanghai Composite gained 0.1%, while the Japanese index lost 0.1%. The background is mixed, but purchases in the Russian shares on Wednesday evening may cause the market to grow at opening on Thursday, Manzhos said.

Vladislav Antonov, financial analyst at BitRiver, said that technical data points to the possibility of the MOEX Russia Index rising because of the ruble’s weakening.

Head of Alor Broker’s investment consulting department Alexei Antonov said that the Russian market may correct downwards.

“The market is severely overbought. There are no external reasons to prompt further growth this morning, because the futures for the U.S. stocks and the oil price are near Wednesday’s closing,” he said.

Gas giant Gazprom usually jumps at the end of the upward trend of the MOEX Russia Index without any reason, and Gazprom did so on Wednesday pointing to the possibility of a correctional fall of the market on Thursday, Antonov said.

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