HM Wilkins Imperial reported that Russian government debt continued to slip recently as the Moex index fell 6.5%, the sharpest decline in almost two years, and down 13% since last Thursday, amidst mounting concerns over a Moscow invasion of Ukraine.
HM Wilkins Imperial reported that Russian stocks took a blow this week, probably the hardest hit in roughly two years when the Moex index fell 6.5%, and they saw further decline upon growing panic that Moscow may be plotting an invasion of Ukraine. Concurrently Russian debt continued to tilt. The dollar denominated Russian Trading System Index, a free float capitalization-weighted index of fifty Russian stocks traded on the Moscow Exchange, dropped off 7.3%, hitting its deepest trough since late 2020. Financial analysts at HM Wilkins Imperial said that the market was enduring pricing disruptions even among solid fundamental stocks, mostly because Western investors are fleeing Russian stocks at just about any price. In harmonious response, the rouble too fell by 0.9% to 76.7 to the dollar, dropping off in close margin to a nine-month low.
The driver, the fear that Moscow may invade Ukraine, has been denied by President Vladimir Putin, however, he has warned that he will impose a “military technical response” if the West fails to make due on Russian security demands. On the other end of the coin, the US and EU have proclaimed that they will impose heavy sanctions should Russia act on any threats, sanctions that may extend to cutting ties between Russian banks and the entire global financial system as well as limiting oil and gas exports. As such an economist at HM Wilkins Imperial, has stated that the sell-off of Russian stocks will most likely persist provided geopolitical tensions over Ukraine remain.
