The Bank of Russia has imposed a ban on short selling that came into effect at 11:00 Moscow time (9:00 CET) on Thursday 24 February.
This ban is open ended and will continue until further instructions are received from the central bank.
In a statement, the Bank of Russia says: “Given the current situation in the financial market and to protect the rights and legitimate interests of investors in financial markets, mitigate risks and curb excessive volatility, the Bank of Russia has instructed brokers to suspend short sales in the exchange until the said instruction is cancelled.”
Stocks that make up the MOEX index have been subject to high volatility over the past two days, with the Index losing 44 per cent of its value in sliding to its low point during Thursday trading.
Trading Economics notes that the MOEX Russia Index has climbed more 20 per cent in Friday early trading, partially recovering from a 33 per cent plunge in the preceding session.
Traders continue to watch on the crisis in Ukraine and the potential impact of sanctions on Russia following its military engagement. Sanctions have not yet significantly targeted Russia’s oil and gas exports and have not suspended Russia’s access to the SWIFT payments network.
