Victor Berzkin/Associated Press
- The Moscow stock exchange will stay closed for the fifth straight day, Russia’s central bank said Friday.
- The London Stock Exchange halted trading in 8 more Russian stocks, which have tumbled as investors dump them.
- The ruble was trading near record lows Friday as the conflict in Ukraine intensifies.
Russia’s central bank has ordered the Moscow stock exchange to stay closed for a fifth day Friday, sheltering local equities that global institutions now see as “uninvestable.”
Meanwhile, the London Stock Exchange froze trading in eight Russian companies on Friday, adding to the 28 already suspended.
War with Ukraine has battered Russian assets, as the US and its allies impose increasingly tougher measures against the country to hurt its economy.
Global institutional investors see the Russian equity market as currently uninvestable, MSCI and FTSE Russell said Thursday. The two companies plan to remove Russian stocks from their indexes and reclassify them “at a price that is effectively zero.”
In Russia, Moscow’s MOEX exchange has been shut all this week, after crashing as much as 50% last Friday after the country’s forces attacked Ukraine. Its central bank ordered the closure, seen as an attempt to avoid further losses as pressure on Russian equities builds.
There are now no Russian securities trading on the London stock exchange after the latest suspensions, a spokesperson told Reuters.
The LSE froze trading in depositary receipts — certificates that represent foreign shares — for leading Russian digital services provider Rostelecom and food retail chain Magnit among the eight companies.
“The London Stock Exchange notes the ongoing deterioration of market conditions since March 2 2022, and in order to maintain orderly markets, the exchange has suspended the admission to trading of the instruments,” it said in a statement.
Russia’s currency, the ruble, plummeted 30% to record lows, trading at around 119 to the dollar, as the US and its allies imposed sanctions on the country. At last check Friday, the currency was changing hands at 111 to the dollar.
The ruble has come under some pressure after ratings agencies Fitch and Moody’s downgraded Russian credit to junk.
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