Russian markets are likely to open lower Wednesday amid negative sentiment on Asian and US floors.
Russian stocks closed in the black Tuesday on positive news from Europe with energy shares among best performers. The MICEX added 0.9% and the RTS rose 1.4%.US stocks declined for a fourth-straight session Tuesday after weaker second quarter performance of major companies. Engine maker Cummins Inc. reduced its sales forecast, while Advanced Micro Devices Inc. reported an unexpected drop in sales. The Dow Jones shed 0.7%, weighed down by 4.1% decline of Alcoa shares. The S&P 500 dropped 0.8% and the Nasdaq Composite lost 1%.European markets closed higher on Tuesday as investors were cheered by surprisingly improved UK manufacturing data. The Stoxx Europe 600 jumped 0.8% after four days of falls. The Spanish IBEX 35 added 0.6% as the yield on the 10-year bond fell to 6.78% as EU agreed to provide the first 30-billion-euro tranche by the end of July.Asian stock markets traded lower Wednesday amid fresh comments of Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on the priorities of the economic policy. He said that the government would now focus on stabilizing economic growth through business-tax cuts and more targeted investment, rather than on long-term restructuring. Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average lost 0.45%, while South Korea’s Kospi both declined 0.4%. China’s Shanghai Composite added 0.2%, and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 eased 0.1%.