MOSCOW, April 30 (RIA Novosti), Nikita Alentyev – The last day of April is likely to see flat trading on the Russian stock exchange as investors head out for the May holiday, reassured by softer-than-expected sanctions against Russia.
The volume of trade on the Russian market is expected to remain low or even edge down, since investors are taking a breather in anticipation of upcoming macroeconomic data on the US, EU and China. The following three days will see the release of GDP and employment figures for the US, economic and manufacturing activity in China and Europe and employment data for the Eurozone.
Apart from the trend-shaping data, investors are expecting to hear from the Federal Reserve on its base rates and the scaling down of its bond-buying program, to be followed by a broader discussion on US economic prospects. The reduction of asset purchases by the Fed has in the past sent a ripple effect through markets worldwide, which is why traders remain cautious ahead of possible downward pressure on the Fed news.
The closely watched Ukrainian crisis is also giving investors mixed investment signals. On the one hand, yesterday Russian stock markets traded with optimism following the announcement of milder-than-expected sanctions. The upcoming May holiday could see mass demonstrations in Ukraine and downward pressure on both the ruble and Russian securities.
As Russia celebrates the May holiday tomorrow, markets’ lackluster trading prospects are possibly a mere signal of a much-needed break.
