Stocks to firm at opening on rising oil prices, foreign markets

MOSCOW, Oct 31 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market is to open higher on Wednesday on the back of growing oil prices and positive dynamics of foreign markets, analysts said.

“The external situation is at the start of today’s trading session. The U.S. closed higher, oil is trading in the green zone. This means that the Russian market participants will buy yesterday’s sales today in the first half of the day,” Anna Bodrova, senior analyst at Alpari, said.

Olma senior analyst Anton Startsev said that the factors which earlier pressured the U.S. market eased after the release of solid financials by several companies, including Under Armour and Akamai Technologies.

The oil prices edged up after the American Petroleum Institute (API) said that the U.S. crude reserves growth slowed down. Traders will be waiting for reports from the U.S. Department of Energy on Wednesday, he said.

According to Bodrova, the MOEX Russia Index will open with a 0.1–0.4% upward gap and the trading range for Wednesday is seen at 2,295–2,325.

Startsev said the RTS will likely grow.

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