Entrance to Micex stock exchange in MoscowAfter nearly two days of mandatory vacation the Micex and RTS stock exchanges opened again and set a new all-time record for one-day growth. The RTS dollar index grew by 22.39%, reaching 1295.91 points, while the ruble index of Micex grew by 28.69%, reaching 1098.95. The exchange indexes almost leveled themselves out to the pre-crisis levels. The week of trading resulted in the lowering of the Micex index by 3.4 percent and the lowering of RTS by only 0.2 percent. However, Russian media point out that the growth was artificial and possibly due to high liquidity, a result of the Russian government’s unprecedented actions. Media disagree with many Russian financial experts and warn that external factors might precipitate a loss of market value once again.
Interestingly, the stock exchanges had to halt trading briefly on two occasions Friday due to the extremely fast pace of buying. Traders had only three hours of actual trading Friday, yet they managed to set a record. In addition to the measures described in Russia Blog’s previous article, the Russian Federal Service for Financial Markets prohibited trading of borrowed assets that weren’t fully owned and it prohibited the “short” sales. In addition, the Russian government made a firm statement that its decisions on tax cuts in the oil sector are definite and final. Several private companies, including Lukoil, bought back their own stock.
All the measures and actions aside, experts and media believe that the rebound was mostly influenced by the overall growth of the world market rather than the domestic actions of the Russian government.
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