Market Buzz: Russian shares to continue mild growth

Analysts expect the Russian market to rise today due to the high oil prices and positive news from the USA, though traders are likely to be prudent amid the eurozone crisis.

“We expect the Russian market to trade slightly positive on Thursday as the background is mildly positive,” say experts from Moscow Fund Center.The Russian market traded mainly in the red zone on Wednesday as the RTS lost 1.16% and the MICEX shed 0.7%. Large buying went on AvtoVAZ (+9.151%) due to growth by 10.6% over 2011, preferred shares of Transneft (+4.887%), and Sollers (+1.932%).US share market recovered most of Wednesday’s losses by the close after the Federal Reserve released its report on the US economy. The S&P 500 grew nearly half a point to 1,292.48 to show five-month highs. The Dow Jones lost 13.02 points to 12,449.45. The NASDAQ Composite rose 8.26 points to 2,710.76.European stocks fell from a five-month high on Wednesday after Fitch Ratings reportedly warned the European Central Bank should do more to avoid the collapse of the euro. The Stoxx Europe 600 closed down 0.4% at 249.9. Debt auctions in Italy and Spain, as well as ECB session are expected later on Thursday.Asian shares traded mostly lower Thursday after China published inflation data and ahead of Europe central bank meetings and bond auctions in Europe. Data out Thursday showed that Chinese consumer prices rose 4.1% in December compared to the same period in 2010. Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average shed 0.9%, the Shanghai Composite slipped 0.4%, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 0.3%. Meanwhile South Korea’s Kospi overcame the regional trend and added 0.3%.