Russian indices are expected to grow further on Thursday following a successful trading day earlier. The RTS grew by 1.3% and the MICEX gained 0.8%.
The majority of Russian blue chips were also on the rise with Norilsk Nickel in the lead with +1%, Sberbank, Gazprom and Lukoil stocks rose 0.95%, 0.55% and 0.09% respectively.
No major corporate events are expected today in Russia and stocks will primarily focus on foreign colleagues when determining the motion vector for the day.
European stock exchanges closed in the mix on Wednesday. The FTSE 100 gained 0.30% and the DAX rose 0.15%, the CAC 40 lost 0.40%.
Markets in Asia are also in mixed territory. The Nikkei 225 is higher by 0.81%, while the Shanghai Composite is leading the Hang Seng lower. They are down 0.17% and 0.16% respectively.
North American stocks showed positive trading with the Dow Jones gaining 0.49%, the S&P rising by 0.15% and the NASDAQ climbing up by 0.33%. American indices gained support from the ongoing season of annual corporate reports. Data posted by Google, IBM and McDonalds came in higher than expected, which stimulated the trading of some indices. Miscrosoft, Starbucks and Xerox are expected to deliver their reports later today. Also the US is to publish unemployment index and oil reserve data on Thursday.