The Moscow Stock Market fell at the opening today in response to the rising tensions between Russia and Ukraine following last week's ouster of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych and fears of a Russian invasion of the country. The benchmark MICEX Index fell 9% at the opening today, the largest one-day drop since 2009. Meanwhile, the Bank of Russia has raised the interest rate by 150 basis points to 7%.
Leading European markets are down sharply by up to 2.5%.
AFI Development plc (LSE:AFID), the Russian development arm of Lev Leviev, has fallen 6% in morning trading on the London Stock Exchange.
Psagot Investment House Ltd. chief economist Ori Greenfeld says, "The purpose of raising the Russian interest rate is to bring Russian money back home, support financial stability, and prevent a sharp devaluation of the ruble. As for the exchange rate, the measure has not been effective, and, at the moment, the ruble has weakened 1.5% against the euro and 1.7% against the dollar. Yields on ten-year Russian government bonds have risen 52 basis points since the beginning of the month.
"Anyone who does not own Russian stocks should (for the time being) stay calm. Stock markets in Europe, emerging markets, and Israel are falling, but so long as there is no war that will cause a global intervention, the heightened fears are probably only short term. The effect on the global economy is fairly low, as well as the effect on Israel, as Russia and Ukraine each account for just 0.3% of Israeli exports."
Most Asian markets fell today. Stock futures on Wall Street are falling 0.8-09%.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on March 3, 2014
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