Russian stocks are likely to open higher Friday amid positive sentiment on Europe, while investors look forward to primary data on US GDP for the first half of 2012.
Russian markets closed in black Thursday as investors were cheered by the ECB’s confirmed intention to preserve the euro, while high oil prices also supported the indices. The MICEX added 1.2% and the RTS surged 2.4%.European stock markets jumped Thursday after four days of losses as European Central Bank President Mario Draghi pledged to do whatever is needed within the its mandate to save the euro. The Stoxx Europe 600 jumped 2.5%. Italy’s FTSE MIB soared 5.6%, supported by banking shares. The French CAC 40 jumped 4.1% and Germany’s DAX 30 was up 2.8%. US stocks closed in positive territory Thursday after the ECB’s euro comment. The Dow Jones and the S&P 500 both rose 1.7%, while the Nasdaq advanced 1.4%. Facebook shares dropped 8.5% after reporting its first public loss.Asian markets rallied Friday on the eurozone news, while tech shares were supported by a record profit result from Samsung Electronics Co. South Korea’s Kospi added 2.1%, while Japan’s Nikkei gained 1 %. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 put on 1%, while China’s Shanghai Composite 0.1% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng surged 1.9%.