Russian equities are expected to open lower Friday amid gloomy global economic sentiment, with investors eyeing an upcoming speech by US Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke.
Russian stocks traded in the red Thursday on weak economic indicators from Europe and a decline in commodities. The MICEX shed 0.5% and the RTS lost 1.8%. Anemic macroeconomic data pushed down European stock markets on Thursday, with miners, car makers and banks posting the biggest losses. The Stoxx Europe 600 lost 0.8%, the French CAC 40 fell 1% and the German DAX 30 shed 1.6%, weighed down by losses from BMW, Daimler and Volkswagen.US stocks also headed south Thursday amid fading hopes that the Fed’s Jackson Hole meeting would bring any new developments. Investors were also spooked by last week’s data showing the number of jobless claims holding steady. The Dow Jones and the S&P 500 both declined 0.8%, and the Nasdaq Composite fell 1.1%. Asian markets posted losses Thursday after reports showed an unexpected drop in Japanese industrial production in July. Japan’s Nikkei Stock lost 1.1%, South Korea’s Kospi slipped 0.1%, and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 traded flat. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 0.3% and the Shanghai Composite traded 0.1% lower.