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RUSSIA-ENTREPRISES-STOCKWATCH-CURRENCY
Russian stock exchange down more than 10% on opening
MOSCOW, March 10, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Russia’s RTS stock index dived more than 10 percent on opening Tuesday after a public holiday, following a crash in oil prices that saw the ruble and global markets post massive losses.
The dollar-denominated RTS index fell 16 percent on opening before rallying slightly to be around 13 percent down at 0815 GMT.
The ruble-denominated Moex fell 10.4 percent on opening before recovering slightly to show a loss of 8.5 percent.
The Russian ruble tumbled in value Monday to trade at 75 to the US dollar, a rate last seen in early 2016.
On Tuesday, it rose slightly and was trading at around 72 to the dollar and 82 to the euro.
The markets sold off after Russia on Friday failed to come to a deal with oil-export cartel OPEC on further reducing output by 1.5 million barrels per day.
Shares in Russian oil and gas companies, particularly Rosneft, fell sharply on Russian stock markets on Tuesday, following the lead of their peers overseas.
Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin, a close ally of President Vladimir Putin’s, had long argued the cutback agreement with OPEC was hurting Russia’s interests and benefitting shale producers in the United States.
OPEC had urged the cut due to a slump in demand linked to the global coronavirus outbreak.
This signalled the disintegration of an alliance between OPEC and Russia, a non-OPEC member and the world’s second-biggest oil producer that had sought to control supply to support prices.
Saudi Arabia responded on Sunday with the biggest cut in its prices of the past 20 years in a bid to win market share.
This sent oil prices crashing, registering the single biggest one-day loss in three decades on Monday.
The Russian Central Bank and the finance ministry on Monday quickly announced measures aimed at stabilising the ruble to ensure financial stability.
Oil stocks in the energy-rich Gulf states rebounded strongly on Tuesday, with the Saudi bourse jumping 5.6 percent.
BSS/AFP/MMA/1954HRS