Russia’s stock market jumped in its first limited trading session as it banned foreigners from selling
U.S. stock futures edged higher and Russia’s stock market partially reopened with gains as it blocked foreigners from selling.
Futures for the S&P 500 added 0.4% Thursday. Contracts for the tech-focused Nasdaq-100 rose 0.5% and futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.3%.
VIX and VIXmain fell 0.47% and 0.48% separately.
The price of gold rose 0.28% to around $1,942.7 a troy ounce.
Investors have grappled with how Russia’s war with Ukraine will put additional pressure on supply chains that are already disrupted from Covid-19. Oil prices, which remain above $100 a barrel, have added to concerns that consumers could see higher prices for energy and even products like plastic wrap or lawn fertilizer. Federal Reserve officials have penciled in a series of additional interest-rate increases to limit inflation this year.
Brent-crude futures, the international benchmark, were flat at $117.77 a barrel.
“Through mid-February, it was all about rising rates, and then it was all about the war, and what’s concerning now is that they’ve combined,” said Daniel Morris, chief market strategist at BNP Paribas Asset Management. “The challenge in this environment is what do you buy. You can’t sit in cash. It is a ‘least-bad option’-type of market.”
Russia’s stock market jumped in its first limited trading session since the West unveiled punishing sanctions nearly a month ago. The benchmark MOEX index added around 8%.
The increase is unlikely to be interpreted as a sign that all is well with the Russian economy. Only 33 shares out of 50 shares on the index were allowed to trade. To prevent a steep selloff, Russia’s central bank banned short selling, and blocked foreigners, who make up a huge chunk of the market, from selling their shares.
The move will also help prevent the ruble from weakening, as foreign investors would likely sell their ruble-denominated shares and then move out of the ruble for the dollar or euro. Russia’s currency has trimmed some of its losses against the dollar in recent sessions, trading at 97 rubles to the dollar Thursday.
In bond markets, the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note ticked up to 2.363% from 2.320% Wednesday. Yields and prices move inversely.
Overseas, the pan-continental Stoxx Europe 600 added 0.1%. Major indexes in Asia closed with mixed performance. China’s Shanghai Composite fell 0.6%, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng declined 0.9%. Japan’s Nikkei 225 added almost 0.3%.
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