The Russian stock market on Tuesday experienced a Big Decline

The Russian stock market on Tuesday experienced the biggest decline since February 24 this year. Following the results of trading in the main session, the Moscow Stock exchange index fell by 8.84%.

“The market was concerned about the news about the referendums planned for September 23-27 on the entry into Russia of the LPR, DPR, Kherson and Zaporozhye regions. The potential annexation of territories to the Russian Federation foreshadows another surge in geopolitical tensions and may result in additional sanctions,” explained Elena Kozhukhova, an analyst at Veles Capital IC.

Following the results of the trading day on September 20, the Moscow Stock Exchange index fell by 8.8%. The last time a comparable decline in the Russian market was observed on June 30, when Gazprom decided not to pay dividends for 2021 — on that day the index dropped by 7.3%. And the fall was stronger than the current one last time on February 24 — minus 33.3%.

Polymetal securities had the largest drop — minus 16.1% as of 20:00 Moscow time (that is, already during the evening session, when the trading volume is smaller and the market is “thinner” and more volatile), Tinkoff — minus 15.7%, QIWI — minus 14.9%, OZON — minus 13.3%, Yandex — minus 12.9%. Gazprom’s quotes fell by 11.4%, NOVATEK — by 12%, LUKOIL — by 10.4%, Rosneft — by 10.1%, Sberbank — by 10%. None of the 45 largest issuers showed growth.

The market began to fall due to the discussion of the growth of the tax burden on exporters, and then the situation was aggravated by the announcements of referendums in the LPR and DPR, Zaporozhye and Kherson region, experts say.