Page 112 - RusRPTApr21

Furthermore, the $25mn inflows into Russia ETFs were the best so far this year.
The “killer” sell-off on renewed sanction fears, however, spoiled the Russia ETF data, with c$10mn reported outflows for the day.
Russia ETF flows will be an important check going forward on Russian equity market’s ability to attract global flows, despite such headline risk.
“We continue to believe a tactically positive stance on the market is justified, but also acknowledge that the next several weeks promise a bumpy ride,” BCS GM said in a note. “The oil price is relatively high, though Russia-specific headline/sanctions risks have once again reared their head, while concerns remain over global economic reopening and rising inflation expectations – we stay positive, but see high volatility ahead. Fundamentally, the market remains a solid Buy.”
The market remains prone to political risk jitters. Since the week of Alexey Navalny’s arrest in January through early March, Russia equity ETFs lost net $116mn. This ensured that Russia lagged other EMs during the period and the RTS index stayed within the 1380-1500 range.
“We continue to believe a tactically positive stance on the market is justified, but also acknowledge that the next several weeks promise a bumpy ride. The oil price is relatively high, though Russia-specific headline/sanctions risks have once again reared their head, while concerns remain over global economic reopening and rising inflation expectations – we stay positive, but see high volatility ahead,” BCS GM said.
Moscow Exchange (MOEX) has posted a trading update for February and 2m21. February saw some mixed trends. Equities volumes were very similar to January, but the y/y growth is slowing, and March and April were big months last year, of course. Sberbank expects 25% growth in 2021. Fixed income bounced back from a subdued January but remained strongly down y/y in
112 RUSSIA Country Report April 2021 www.intellinews.com