A first since 1998 on the Russian stock market

Transactions on Russian stock exchanges were also stopped on the 3rd day. Russia's invasion of Ukraine caused a sharp depreciation in the ruble, and the Moscow stock market has been closed since February 28.

Thus, the stock market was closed for such a long time for the first time since October 1998 due to the extraordinary situation.

Due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the US and Europe's harsh sanctions against the country caused severe losses in Russian assets.

Shares of Russian companies traded on Russia's foreign exchanges also fell sharply on Monday and Tuesday.

To support the markets, the Russian government has instructed the Ministry of Finance to buy shares in Russian companies using $10 billion from the National Wealth Fund.

Bank Julius Baer Strategist Leonardo Pellandini stated that the usual Russian financial markets have come to an end and said, "The Russian stock market is becoming more and more an 'uninvestable' market for foreign investors. Because there is too much uncertainty."

As part of the sanctions, about half of the Russian Central Bank's reserves were frozen by western countries. About half of Russia's reserves are located in Western countries. The European Union has decided to exclude seven Russian banks from the international money transfer system SWIFT. MSCI, the world's largest index provider, announced yesterday that it received feedback from market participants on how to take action for Russian stocks. It is stated that removing the country from the index may trigger a capital outflow of 32 billion dollars. Similarly, S&P Dow Jones stated that the shares of Russian companies will not be included in the indexes. In the statement, it was also stated that existing publicly traded companies would not be excluded from the indexes.