Russian stock indexes return to pre-crisis levels

On March 7th the MICEX index almost updated the maximum of 2008, surpassing the mark of 1900 points. Thus, for the day of trading, it rose from 1878.29 to 1909.57 points.

Experts believe that the rise of oil prices has affected the growth of Russian shares. Today the price of a barrel of Brent oil rose above 40 dollars for the first time since December 2015. Data on the reduction of number of drilling rigs in the United States had a positive impact on oil prices and, as a consequence, on the Russian stock market.

It is worth noting that the increase in shares of companies and banks of Russia occurred against the background of a significant weakening of the ruble against the US dollar since 2008. In particular, the securities of 'Rosneft' updated the historical maximum, Sberbank shares are also trading close to a historic high in ruble terms. However, the leaders of growth in the Russian market are shares of 'Rossetti', 'Yandex' OGK-2, and 'Rusala', the growth of which exceeds 2%.

However, despite the growth of index, experts note that, in dollar terms, the price of shares is about three times lower in comparison with 2008, since eight years ago, the dollar was trading at a local minimum – around 23 rubles, and now it is about 72 rubles.

On the results of March 7th, trading on the Moscow stock exchange closed in the green zone. During the holiday of March 8th, there will be no trading on the Russian market.