According to SKB-Bank’s trader Alexander Sterkhov, Russian stock market appears to be waiting for the end of the May recess and for the U.S. Federal Reserve System meeting.

‘The week in-between the holidays (Labor Day on May 1 and V-Day on May 9) is traditionally not very impressive as far as the turnovers are concerned. This year was no exception; most investors are waiting to hear from the U.S. before taking any crucial decisions, so RTS index amounted to 1,926 points at the close of business on May 3, 2007 (which means it went down 1.75% within a week), MICEX index came to 3,362.2 points (or -2.25% within a week),’ Mr. Sterkhov said.

‘The country’s market is currently supported by the ongoing growth of world indices: Dow Jones index, for instance, went up thanks to the good news of rising MasterCard and TimeWarner profits, and, besides, the microeconomic statistics published on Thursday prove that unemployment is down and agricultural productivity is up, which contributes to further increase in the U.S. market of shares,’ he added.

‘Global oil prices went down last week and come to $66.8 per barrel now; this can be explained by OPEC’s claims as to their supplying enough crude oil on the world market, what is more, the report drawn up by the U.S. Department of Energy states that their commercial supply of oil increased by .35% last week. All this makes a dramatic increase in oil prices rather unlikely at the moment, therefore we should not expect our oil shares to soar, either.’

‘As for the other sectors of our stock market, Sberbank’s shares did really well last week. The bank’s profits rose by 25.8% in 2006 and reached 82.804 billion RUR; its share price was supported by great demand for VTB (the demand/supply ratio was 4/1) into the bargain. It looks like nice accounting reports can ensure investors’ demand and therefore make a nice impact on the stock price,’ Mr. Sterkhov observed.

‘As regards the soaring stock price of Norilsk Nickel last Thursday, it probably had to do with the company’s plans to acquire Canada-based LionOre Mining International Ltd. before June 18, 2007. This is reported to be a 4.77-billion-dollar deal. I believe this diversification of business will help to improve the company’s financial and production success.’

‘Our market will most likely depend on what the U.S. Federal Reserve System says about American economic growth and inflation rate after meeting on May 9, 2007,’ he reported.