Market Buzz: Russian stocks likely to remain in the black

18 Jan, 2012 05:40 / Updated 13 years ago

Analysts expect positive trends on Russian markets today. Alexander Osin, chief economist at AMC Finam Management, believes Russian indices will go on trading in the black in the short-term.

“Many indices in the world put growth to important resistant level and Russia included. So we may have to wait and settle at current levels”, says Alexander Golovtsov from Bank Uralsib.On Tuesday, Russian market investors were bullish. The MICEX closed at 1486.34, gaining 1.49%, and the RTS showed 1.44% growth, settling at 1476.31 points.“Market growth was initiated by previous indices drop and economic data from China”, says Kirill Markin from Investcafe.The metallurgic sector is leading, with stock growth headed by Mechel (+4,52%), Severstal (+3,59%), and Nornikel (+2,54%). The trend is being encouraged by data from China and rising metal prices.The strengthening value of the Russian rouble is also supported by rising oil prices. By the end of MICEX trade the USD/RUR exchange rate settled at31,5397. The light brand oil price has reached $100.71 per barrel, increasing by 2% by the end of NYMEX session.US stocks rallied on Tuesday. The Dow Jones saw a 0.48% decrease in trading at 12482.07 points and the NASDAQ gained 0.64% trading at 2728.08 points. S&P 500 added 0.36% trading at 1293.67 points.The UK’s FTSE 100 also closed higher yesterday, rising by 0.7% (5,693 points) after positive economic data on the December UK Consumer Price Index growing by 0.4%. The German DAX also gained 1.8% after the ZEW Indicator of Economic Sentiment for Germany restored from -53.8 points up to -21.6 points, exceeding analyst expectations.Asian shares were experiencing volatile trading on Wednesday. Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average escalated 0.2% after early losses, South Korea’s Kospi slipped 0.1%, and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index lost 0.2%. The Shanghai Composite Index remained flat after recovering from early losses, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index also raised 0.2% after a morning decrease.