Market Buzz: A rather laid-back Monday
Monday, 21 January 2013 08:12

No sudden moves are expected today on the markets as investors worldwide will mainly focus on general news background.

­Russian markets are expected to open in the red despite having closed in positive territory on Friday. Two key Russian indices finished in the green, with the RTS gaining 1.14% and the MICEX up 1.10%.

Asian markets are higher today as Chinese and Hong Kong shares show gains. The Shanghai Composite is up 0.23% and the Hang Seng rose 0.01%. The Nikkei 225 is closed for a holiday.

Oil prices slid on Monday, with Brent losing 0.27% and Light down 0.34%.

“Weak dynamics in Asian markets and a decline in world oil prices traditionally affect Russian stock exchanges, so I expect Russian indices to open with losse,” Yulia Voytovich of Investcafe explained.

However, European markets traded mixed. The FTSE 100 gained 0.36%, while the DAX dropped 0.43% and the CAC 40 lost 0.07%.

North and South American stocks also failed to show positive dynamics, but managed to finish mainly in green. The Dow Jones and the S&P 500 gained 0.39% and 0.34%, respectively, while the NASDAQ slid 0.04%.

“Today will not bring much in macroeconomic statistics, so no sudden moves on the markets are expected. Investors worldwide will mainly focus on general news background,” Voytovich said.

source:
 http://rt.com/business/news/russian-stocks-january21-2013-386/