Those volatile Russians

I needed to make a note of yesterday’s volatility in Russian equities.

Lukoil fell 57% at one stage to close ‘only’ down 22% on the day.

Gazprom’s intraday low was 41% below the previous day’s close.

After all of that, it closed down 29%.

Sberbank was down 57% at one stage yet closed a respectable negative 37% while TCS Group (a financial services firm) tanked 80% and then rallied to close down 59%.

and the whole index (the MOEX) was down 51% at its lowest point and closed down 33% on the day.

It is extraordinary that a whole index halved in value.

It may be an immediate signal that sanctions had an effect.

Rarer still, some of these moves were 4 standard deviations below their weekly mean.

In this morning’s trading session, these stocks are +10%, (4%), (4%) and +33% respectively, while the MOEX has bounced a further 6%, albeit it seems unconvincing.

Phew !

February 25, 2022

by Rob Zdravevski

rob@karriasset.com.au