Russian stocks are likely to edge up on Friday as the country may be moving closer to an agreement with the U.S. on the Ukrainian crisis, analysts said.
“There are two key factors for local investor optimism. First, Russian Foreign Affairs Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary John Kerry have agreed that the Ukrainian military operation needs to be stopped, which indicates the countries may have reached a compromise increasing chances for de-escalation of the Ukrainian crisis,” Investcafe analyst Roman Grinchenko said.
After meeting with Kerry Lavrov said Ukraine’s pro-Western government should take the first step to stop the fighting and voiced confidence its opponents in pro-Russian Ukraine’s Luhansk and Donetsk regions would follow suit.
“Second, Russian and French presidents have met. Although there were no statements from them after the meeting, comments by (President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry) Peskov that the talks were very constructive can lift investor mood,” Grinchenko said.
Promsvyazbank senior analyst Oleg Shagov said that the bank expects the MICEX index to try to break through a 1,480 resistance level.
U.S. stocks increased 0.6-1.0%, U.S. futures are rising, European floors closed mostly in the green zone while Asian bourses are showing no single dynamics.
Vasily Oleynik from IT Invest said that the market will watch for the U.S. May employment figures that are likely to be below market expectations and trigger profit taking on U.S. bourses.
“We are not recommending buying anything today. It is high time you take profits. There are no clear signals to open short positions,” he said.
Germany, France and the U.K. will publish their trade balance, while the U.S. will release its consumer lending volumes.
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