Russia’s primary stock index declined by over 2% on Monday as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and European allies geared up for discussions in Washington aimed at resolving the conflict.
At the start of trading, the Moscow Exchange index, which monitors around 40 of Russia’s largest corporations, fell to 2,945 points. The RTS index decreased to 1,160.
The decline was led by the shares of major energy companies Gazprom, Rosneft, and Tatneft, along with the shipping company Sovcomflot and Bank St. Petersburg, all of which experienced losses exceeding 3%.
In contrast, the ruble saw a slight uptick, gaining 0.07% to reach 80.2 against the U.S. dollar, 0.09% to 93.83 against the euro, and 0.10% to 11.17 against the Chinese yuan, as reported by Reuters. Analysts anticipate that the currency will likely experience ongoing fluctuations ahead of the Trump-Zelensky meeting later on Monday.
According to Yaroslav Kabakov, strategy director at Finam, the Russian market is expected to encounter “increased volatility” in the coming days due to uncertainty surrounding the negotiations to end the war in Ukraine.
Should the negotiations prove successful, BKS analyst Mikhail Zeltser suggested that “active market participants may begin to factor in the possibility of future trilateral discussions,” predicting that the Moscow Exchange index could potentially rise above 3,000.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Russia’s Vladimir Putin held a critical summit in Alaska on Friday, but they did not manage to achieve the significant Ukraine peace agreement that the American president had hoped for.