Stocks to fall on low oil price, ahead of Senate support decision

MOSCOW, Dec 15 (PRIME) – The Russian stocks are likely to fall on Tuesday morning on investor wariness ahead of on the U.S. Congress decision on new stimulation steps for the economy and falling oil prices, analysts said.

“Today the earlier downward correction of the RTS Index may deepen at the beginning of trade. Investor risk appetite has shrunk as some countries are toughening their restrictions imposed over the pandemic, and traders are waiting for the U.S. Congress to decide on fiscal stimulation measures for the economy,” investment company Olma senior analyst Anton Startsev said.

The market will also wait for the results of the current meeting of the U.S. Federal Reserve System’s Open Markets Committee to be released on Wednesday evening, Startsev said.

Alor Broker senior analyst Alexei Antonov said that the background for the Russian market is moderately negative at the beginning of Tuesday.

“The U.S. futures edge up, but the oil prices lose more than 0.5% and fall below U.S. $50 per barrel. That is why we expect the opening to be slightly lower than the yesterday’s closure, while further dynamics will be defined by the external background and the mood of non-residents in relation to the Russian shares,” Antonov said.

Nataliya Asedova, analyst at investment company Finam, also said that technical analysis points to a downward correction of the MOEX Russia Index at the beginning of Tuesday.

“From the technical standpoint, the daily chart of the MOEX Russia Index shows a ‘bear engulfing’ candlestick pattern, and the index has repeatedly exited the upper Bollinger Band, while slow stochastics have been in the overbought zone for a long time. Taking that into account, contraction of the index is possible,” Asedova said.

End