No ‘black swan’ for Russian markets as stocks & ruble ignore US blacklist
Investors in Russia shrugged off the US Treasury's so-called ‘Kremlin List’ targeting Russian businessmen. Stocks on the Moscow Exchange are trading near all-time highs, while the ruble remains stable.
The ruble-denominated MICEX index was trading near the 2,291 mark on Friday, inching towards the all-time high of 2,328.48 it hit last week. The dollar-based RTS index slid 1 percent to 1,282 points.
The Russian ruble has continued to gain against the US dollar over the last 52 weeks, trading at 56.28 against the greenback.
"Really, a 'black swan' has not occurred, but the message of a worsening of bilateral relations is quite clear," said Danske Bank analyst Vladimir Miklashevsky, as quoted by Reuters.
According to the analyst, investors are reassured that Russian Central Bank governor Elvira Nabiullina was not named on the list.
Shares in Sberbank, Russia's largest bank, whose CEO Herman Gref is on the Treasury's blacklist, rallied to an all-time high of 259 rubles (around $4.6) per share.
"It will be important how Western, European businesses react since they do, in one way or another, work with the companies whose owners are now on this list," said ING chief economist Dmitry Polevoy.
"Whether or not there's some real effect from this list depends on their reaction."
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