By the middle of Monday, February 21, the Russian stock market is losing ground heavily. As of 2:25 p.m., the Moscow Exchange index fell by 7.47 percent, to 3139.86 points, and the RTS index fell by 8.62 percent, to 1271.35 points, according to data sites.
The Russian currency is weakening along with the shares of domestic companies, since the beginning of the day it has lost more than half a percent. The dollar rose to 77.78 rubles, the euro – up to 88.16 rubles.
Shares of all “blue chips” of the Moscow Exchange fall by more than a percentage point. Better than others are Polyus (minus 1 percent, to 12,756 rubles), Severstal (minus 3.19 percent, to 1,583.8 rubles) and Polymetal (minus 3.32 percent, to 1,185.3 rubles) . VK shares fell by 10.84 percent, to 498.6 rubles, Ozon shares fell by 10.35 percent, to 1,325 rubles, and Rusal’s securities fell by 8.81 percent, to 73.41 rubles.
At the beginning of the day, the market showed a cautious positive in connection with the expectations of a meeting between Russian and US Presidents Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden. It should have been preceded by talks between the heads of the foreign affairs agencies of the countries, Sergei Lavrov and Anthony Blinken.
Later it became clear that the meeting might not take place, and the leadership of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR) announced a significant deterioration in the situation. In addition, the Federal Security Service reported that a shell had hit a border checkpoint on the border with Ukraine, illustrating the information with footage of a destroyed building without identification marks. In Ukraine, the very fact of the shelling of Russian territory and any other attacks is categorically rejected, calling what is happening a provocation.
Against this background, the Kremlin announced an extraordinary meeting of the Security Council headed by Vladimir Putin. Extraordinary meetings of both chambers of the Russian parliament are scheduled for Tuesday. The agenda of the meetings has not been released.
The Russian leadership categorically denies plans for an “invasion” of Ukraine, which Western countries accuse it of planning. Moscow explains the pulling of troops to the borders of Ukraine and the self-proclaimed republics by provocations on the part of Kiev, which allegedly wants to regain control over uncontrolled territories by force.
The Russian stock market has returned to the level of November 2021. At the same time, the United States warned that the entry of Russian troops into the DPR and LPR is also considered as a reason for sanctions. One of them may be a ban on large banks to process transactions.
#Russian #stock #market #fell