Stock analysts comment on Russian stock market

The trade was low at the end of last week. It seemed that many investors decided to take a break. So the market was experiencing a sideways trend. Activity was felt only before the closure of the session on the last working day of last week. However the RTS index started advancing slower than it did before. Nevertheless a level of 419.71 points, the highest since January 1998, was reached, although the volume of trade was low, amounting to only $8.5m. This fact is likely to have meant that large players did not take part in the trade and were not going to sell their securities. Their confidence encourages the optimism of other participants of the market, an expert of one of the Russian investment companies said in an interview with RBC. At the same time the most liquid securities that are traded at the RTS and MICEX have practically reached serious resistance levels so, taking into account investors' optimism, another growth should be expected due to a possible jump in prices for shares on the secondary market. At the same time the presence of foreign investors on the market means that they want to participate in the development of the Russian economy. According to some preliminary data, the total volume of foreign investments in the Russian economy was $3.8bn in the first quarter of 2002, which was 39.4 percent more than in the corresponding period last year. So the next few days will be a turning point for the Russian stock market, as the upward tendency that has existed over the past several days cannot last forever. Investors should define whether they are ready to invest in the advancing Russian economy on a long-term basis.