The Moscow Stock Exchange closed strongly . After the long suspension that began on 28 February last and decided by the Russian Central Bank to remove the price list from the destabilizing effects of the sanctions, today the reopening is on the rise.
The Moex index finished trading with a gain of 4.37% , after hitting a high of 11.77%.
But the rise in the list, which saw only 33 stocks negotiated compared to the fifty that make it up, was artificially facilitated by the measures adopted by the government , which banned short selling and sales of shares by foreigners, as well as putting the sovereign fund is in the field to purchase securities and support quotations.
According to rumors, the Russian sovereign fund would have been ready to support the stock market, investing up to 10 billion dollars in order to avoid a repetition of a collapse similar to that seen on the first day of the invasion of Ukraine, when the Moex index it had sunk by 33%.
“What we are seeing is a farce: a reopening of the Potemkin-style market. After keeping its markets closed for about a month, Russia announced that it will only allow 15% of its listed shares to trade, foreigners will not be able to sell their shares, and short selling has been banned. At the same time, Russia has made it clear that the government is pouring out resources to artificially support the shares of the companies they are trading ”. Thus Daleep Singh, US Deputy National Security Advisor, delegate to international economic issues, commented in a note on the reopening of the Russian stock market.
“This is not a real market and a sustainable model – which only highlights Russia’s isolation from the global financial system. The United States and our allies and partners – he concludes – will continue to take action forfurther isolate Russia from the international economic order as long as the brutal war against Ukraine continues.
“” With restrictions on foreign sales and repatriation this is not a functional market in terms of price transparency , in light of the fact that foreigners dominate the free float, “Tellimer’s strategist Hasnain Malik told Bloomberg. Like
Per Hammarlund, Seb’s head of emerging market strategies:” I have to warn that at the moment this is not a real floor (minimum ), because today’s hikes were most likely driven by the authorities’ purchases of shares“While it will take time before foreign companies can” dump “their positions on the stock market, as” I do not foresee that the restrictions will be removed any time soon “. The energy giants
ran on the list , a sector spared from sanctions and which, moreover, benefits from the surge in oil and gas prices: Tatneft (+ 20%) and Novatek (+ 18%) were the queens of the list, where the giants Lukoil (+ 12.4%) and Gazprom (+ 13.4%) also raced. On the other hand, a thud for the national airline Aeroflot (-16.4%). Sberbank was saved among the banks(+ 3.9%), the country’s main bank, while Vtb (-5.5%), one of the institutions most affected by sanctions, slipped. Also sold Severstal (-2.7%), which risks default after failing to pay the coupon on one of its bonds, blocked by Citigroup.
