Russia's equity market finished the trading day lower on Wednesday as losses across several heavy sectors pushed the benchmark lower. The MOEX Russia Index closed down 2.16%, marking a new three-month low for the index.
Sectors cited as the primary drivers of the downturn were Mining, Oil & Gas and Power. The session's largest declines came from a handful of sizable names, while a smaller group of stocks posted gains.
Top performers
- Unipro PJSC (MCX:UPRO) led gains among constituents, adding 0.80% or 0.01 points to finish at 1.39.
- Moskovskiy Kreditnyi Bank PAO (MCX:CBOM) rose 0.78% or 0.05 points to close at 6.46.
- Bank VTB PJSC (MCX:VTBR) was up 0.18% or 0.17 points, ending the session at 92.81.
Biggest decliners
- MMC NORILSK NICKEL PJSC (MCX:GMKN) fell 4.87% or 6.60 points to end at 128.60.
- Polyus PJSC (MCX:PLZL) declined 4.28% or 92.60 points to finish at 2,069.80.
- Federal Hydro Generating Company RusHydro PJSC (MCX:HYDR) dropped 3.53% or 0.01 points to close at 0.39.
Market breadth was tilted strongly to the downside on the Moscow Exchange, with 189 stocks falling, 54 advancing and 8 ending unchanged.
The Russian Volatility Index - RVI, which measures implied volatility for options on the MOEX Russia Index, rose 0.62% to 22.81, signaling an uptick in option-implied market uncertainty.
Commodities and foreign exchange
Commodities and currency markets showed notable moves during the session. Gold futures for June delivery declined 1.11% or 51.10 to trade at 4,557.30 a troy ounce. In energy markets, crude oil for June delivery climbed 8.57% or 8.56 to reach 108.49 a barrel, while the July Brent contract increased 1.01% or 1.13 to trade at 112.98 a barrel.
On foreign exchange, USD/RUB was unchanged at 75.06 and EUR/RUB was unchanged at 87.63. The US Dollar Index Futures advanced 0.36% to 98.84.
This close underscores a session in which sector-specific weakness, a rise in implied volatility and divergent moves across commodities coincided with a sizeable imbalance between decliners and advancers on the Moscow Exchange.