The Dynamics Of Russia’S Key Stock-Market Indicators In January 2015

The period under review – between 23 December 2015 and 26 January 2016 – saw the Brent crude price slide further by 12.7% from the previous period. During that period, there were days when the price dropped below $30 a barrel. Sberbank and VTB lost 8.3% and 12.6% respectively, thus dragging down Financials Indices and cutting their share of the MOEX (Moscow Exchange) cap by more than 1%. LUKOIL outperformed Norilsk Nickel to regain the thirdlargest share of MOEX total turnover. The MICEX Index was down 1.1% to 1705.0 index points. The domestic corporate bond market continued to face the downtrend driven by troublesome external conditions and heightened domestic economic risks. Investors’ activity dropped considerably due to the foregoing factors plus the traditional seasonal slack. Nevertheless, the key indicators such as corporate bond market volume and index saw moderately positive dynamics; investors and issuers activity remained at high level. The main headwind was the increase, small though it was, in the weighted average yield rate of bond issuances, as well as the worsening of the issue of Russian companies defaulting on debt obligations due to their bondholders..