US exchanges halt trading in plummeting Russian stocks as Moscow grapples with whether to reopen markets
The Nasdaq and New York Stock Exchange halted trading in US-listed Russian stocks on Monday following the invasion of Ukraine and harsh sanctions from Western countries imposed against Moscow.
Shares of Yandex, which traded down more than 20% in pre-market trades on Monday before being halted, were among the Russian stocks that could not be traded, along with Ozon Holdings, Mobile TeleSystems, and Mechel. The halts by the NYSE were due to "regulatory concern," according to its website.
The halts are temporary in nature as regulatory teams of the NYSE and Nasdaq study the new sanctions imposed on Russia, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. There are no expectations as of yet that the Russian stocks will be delisted from the US exchanges.
While individual Russian stocks that trade on US exchanges were halted, trading in the VanEck Vectors Russia ETF was not. That ETF fell as much as 31% in Monday trades, its worst day ever. The decline in the RSX ETF gives an idea of the type of carnage the Russian stock market would have experienced today if it were opened, and what it might experience tomorrow if it is re-opened. Russia's central bank ordered the Russian stock market to remain closed on Monday as it seeks to stem the sharp decline its its economy and currency, the ruble, which plunged to record lows on Monday. Russia's MOEX stock market index had already plunged 50% last week in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine.
The central bank said it is still considering whether it will open all of its markets on Tuesday for normal trading. So far, it said currency and money-market trading on the Moscow Exchange would begin at 10 a.m. local time on Tuesday, which is a delayed start from its normal start time. The bank also said its extended hours trading in the morning and evening will be canceled from March 1 until March 5. Whether foreign investors will even be allowed to sell their Russian stocks once the market re-opens remains to be seen, as Russia's central bank also instructed brokers to not execute sell orders from foreign investors.
That could lead to billions in dollars of losses for BP, which said it would divest its 20% stake in Russian oil giant Rosneft on Monday.
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