Topline
The Moscow Stock Exchange, Russia’s largest exchange group, announced on Wednesday it would reopen trading for certain stocks after a nearly one-month shutdown following the nation’s invasion of Ukraine, which prompted the U.S. and its allies to unleash a barrage of sanctions against Russia that crippled its economy and tanked the value of Russian equities trading internationally.
The Moscow Stock Exchange, Russia’s largest exchange group, has halted stock trading since February … [+]
Key Facts
In a Wednesday release, the Bank of Russia said it would hold trading on the Moscow Exchange Thursday for shares of 33 stocks included in the Moscow Exchange Index, which tracks 50 of the nation’s biggest stocks.
The exchange will only open from 9:50 to 2 p.m. Moscow time, and there will be a ban on short sales for the securities, the central bank said.
Stocks that will resume trading include oil giants Gazprom and Rosneft as well as financial institutions Sberbank and the Credit Bank of Moscow.
The Moscow Exchange restarted trading federal government bonds on Monday, but stock trading has been closed since the exchange shuttered operations on February 28, as the nation’s ruble sank to an all-time low of nearly 118 against the U.S. dollar following an initial batch of sanctions days after the Ukraine invasion started.
The Moscow Stock Exchange has collapsed more than 35% this year, with most of the plunge happening in the days before trading was halted in Russia, but exchange-traded funds still changing hands internationally have fallen harder: The VanEck Russia ETF has plunged 80% this year, prompting exchange operator Cboe to halt trading on the fund earlier this month.
Key Background
The economic fallout since Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an invasion of Ukraine on February 23 has quickly piled on amid a growing list of sanctions targeting vast swaths of the Russian economy—including the tech, defense, alcohol and energy industries, financial institutions, the Central Bank of Russia and the nation’s wealthiest people. Additionally, a slew of businesses including oil giants British Petroleum and Shell, as well as the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund, have all announced they will abandon Russian investments or operations. Experts warned the crisis has made the nation “increasingly uninvestable for global investors.”
Further Reading
Russia Stock Market Crash Intensifies—BlackRock Warns Investors Of ‘Significant Declines’ (Forbes)
Russia Stocks Crash Even With Moscow Exchange Closed—Experts Call Market ‘Uninvestable’ (Forbes)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jonathanponciano/2022/03/23/russia-stock-exchange-will-finally-reopen-after-ukraine-invasion-but-under-these-restrictions/