Market Buzz: Russian stocks to remain flat

The Russian market is expected to trade flat until the end of the year as the liquidity level remains low.

“I suppose a sideways trend in the conditions of low liquidity and volatility will continue until the end of the year and during the first trade sessions of 2012,” says Vitaliy Mikhalchuk from Investcafe.Russian stocks traded on the neutral territory Wednesday with trade volumes lowered ahead of the holidays. The MICEX stayed at 1385 points and the RTS slightly shed 0.82%.Lukoil shares showed good dynamics, growing 1.09 %, along with Aeroflot (+2.35%), NLMK (+1.79%) and Gazprom Neft (+2.24%).European stock markets ended mostly in the red Wednesday after the European Central Bank showed it had significantly increased lending to banks. The Stoxx Europe fell 0.7% and Germany’s DAX decreased 2%.The euro fell to $1.29, its lowest level since September 2010. Italy is expected to auction 8.5 billion euro in longer-term debt, including a 10-year bond later on Thursday, after selling 9 billion euro of six-month bills on Wednesday.US stocks fell significantly Wednesday on concerns about Italy’s next auction of government debt. The Dow Jones lost 139.94 points, or 1.1%, ending in the red, while the S&P 500 shed 15.79 points, or 1.3%. A report of initial claims for unemployment benefits will be published on Thursday.Asian share markets traded mostly lower Thursday as investors concerned about debt crisis in the eurozone abstained from significant movement. Japan’s Nikkei lost 0.7% and South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.1%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 0.9, while the Shanghai Composite edged up 0.1% in early trades.