The financial hemorrhages in the Russian economy continued in what has now become a tradition, as the local stock market closed yet again on a negative note at month end, as key equity indices nosedived to new low levels. Thus, the RTS Standard Indicator, the new indicator tracking blue chips’ performances, fell by 1.13% to 9676.07 from 9786.52 on March 19, while the RTS-2 Index, the tracker of the second-tier equities, could only managed a meager growth of 0.94% to close the penultimate week of March at 1768.17.
The leaders of the negative trends in the blue-chip equities segment were the locomotives of the Russian economy, notably, Sberbank (–11.65%), Gazprom (–9.72%) and LUKoil (–8.64%). Industry-wise, the negative trends were fueled by financials (–1.92%), oil and gas (–1.70%) as their overall downward trends could not be completely remedied or nullified by the 2.94% growth posted by the retail & consumers segment. The persistent volatility on the local forex market maintained its resolute course, as ruble appreciated and devalued against major currencies throughout the month before ending it on the high, gaining 1.49% to close at exchange rate of 29.66 rubles to the U.S. dollar on March 26. For instance, a similar ratio stood at 29.22 rubles to one USD on March 19.
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