Russian equity market dynamics
Last week, the Russian equity market underperformed the broader emerging markets (EM) index. This was mainly due to Russia specific factors:
- The weakening of the rouble amid geopolitical risks was the main detractor from the Russian market’s performance. Concerns over potential sanctions due to alleged Russian interference in the affairs of Belarus led to investors selling off rouble-denominated assets.
- The Russian energy sector remained under pressure amid investor anxiety over the Ministry of Finance’s proposal to amend the tax code to raise an additional RUB 143 billion (~USD 1.9 billion) in taxes from the oil industry over the next two years. The proposal is yet to be discussed by the government.
Main Russian news
Most of Russia’s key macroeconomic indicators improved in July. Although industrial production continued to increase in the manufacturing segment, it still contracted on an annualised basis but by less than in June. Extraction activities were hit by lower oil production on the back of the OPEC+ agreement. Retail sales improved significantly in the non-food segment due to COVID-19 related lockdown restrictions being eased. Rosstat published real wage growth data for May which showed an increase of 1.0% YoY.
Author: Marina Tsutskiridze, Junior Investment Specialist
Sources: Rosstat, Vedomosti, Bloomberg, TKB Investment Partners (JSC); August 2020