Russian stocks are likely to continue the downward trend amid a negative global background and falling oil prices.
Russian markets closed slightly lower on Wednesday amid lower trade at the US floors. The MICEX shed 0.21% and the RTS lost 0.12%. Metallurgy shares were among gainers as NLMK added 1.04%, Severstal added 1.01% and Polymetal gained 0.94%.US stocks fell Wednesday, losing the gains of a previous day, as investors were disappointed by weaker results of IBM Corp. and Intel Corp. The Dow Jones fell 0.6%, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite both slipped 0.4%.European markets dropped on Wednesday after Spanish banks slid on news of a sharp rise in bad loans. The Bank of Spain announced the ratio of bad loans for the sector reached a 17-year high in February of 8.2%. The Stoxx Europe 600 fell 0.7% as the Spanish IBEX 35 tumbled 4% to a three-year low. The French CAC 40 fell 1.6%, while Germany’s DAX 30 lost 1% weighed down by Siemens’ share performance.Spain's 10-year bond auction will take place later on Thursday. On Monday the yield on the country's 10-year bond was above 6 %, but fell to more manageable levels just below that mark.In Asia major stocks were trading higher on Thursday ahead of another key Spanish bond auction. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.3%, the Shanghai Composite Index edged up 0.1%, and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 advanced 0.4%. The Nikkei Stock Average bucked the trend declining 0.6%, while Korea’s Kospi traded flat.