Moscow, (Business News Report)|| The Moscow Stock Exchange has continued to close its doors for the third day in a row, after heavy losses for its shares in light of the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian war.
The Russian Central Bank said it would allow a limited set of operations on the Moscow Stock Exchange, for the first time this week.
The Saudi Central stated that the decision regarding trading for tomorrow, Thursday, will be taken before nine o’clock in the morning Moscow time of the same day.
The stock market closure comes as a precautionary measure in light of the external pressures on the Russian market, after the West announced the imposition of a new package of sanctions, affecting the Russian Central Bank.
On Monday, the United States banned dealings with the Russian Central Bank, in an unprecedented and severe punishment that reflects its intention to paralyze it in response to the Ukraine war.
The US Treasury announced that it is banning with immediate effect any dealings with the Russian financial institution, at a time when the ruble is collapsing.
This decision, linked to similar sanctions imposed by several US allies, will limit Moscow’s ability to use its cash reserves to buy the ruble, according to AFP.
US President Joe Biden stressed that Russian President Vladimir Putin has become isolated from the world in an unprecedented way, and sanctions will weaken the military for decades.
President Biden said during his State of the Union address that the United States and its allies have succeeded in imposing severe economic sanctions on Russia, and the Russian economy is suffering and President Putin is to blame.
The closure of the Moscow Stock Exchange led to a decline in the shares of Russian companies listed on foreign exchanges.
The GDRs of the Russian state natural gas giant Gazprom fell by 34% in the London market, while the price of GDRs of Sberbank of Racha, Russia’s largest bank, fell by 27%. Shares of Gazprom and Sberbank fell by 53% and 74%, respectively, yesterday, according to Bloomberg News.
The price of Sefertal’s GDRs decreased by 14% by 2:49 am today in the trading of the London Stock Exchange, after its decline yesterday by 68%.
This comes as the European Union considers excluding seven Russian banks from the SWIFT international payments system, including VTB Bank, in the latest set of European financial sanctions against Russia.
On Wednesday, Russia’s main bank, Sberbank, announced its withdrawal from European markets, after it was subjected to extensive financial sanctions against the backdrop of the Russian war on Ukraine.
