The Moscow Stock Exchange has been closed for almost two weeks. The stock exchange assets of investors are practically frozen, the owners of shares have suffered especially - they cannot buy or sell their securities. It is a little easier for bondholders – they at least count on coupons, execution of offers and repayments, although adjusted for significantly increased credit risks.
When will the exchange open? "It's a matter of weeks rather than days," a major market participant said after communicating with the Central Bank, the Ministry of Finance and the stock Exchange. And perhaps this is also an optimistic view of things. Let's try to understand the situation.
The beginning of the special operation of the Russian Federation in Ukraine brought down the stock market by tens of percent, which led to the termination of trading on March 1. Since then, the geopolitical situation has continued to escalate. Opening trades in such conditions would lead to a new sharp drop in the market and the highest volatility at low levels. Many investors will try to dump securities at any quotes, cursing the stock market and fixing huge losses. Fans of "catching falling knives" (purchases during a sharp drop in quotations) will try to pick up cheaper securities, but it is unlikely to bring them happiness – the long-term prospects of the Russian economy now look extremely uncertain. The only public able to catch profits in the muddy water from the market fall are speculators with a high tolerance for risk.
Here are some suggestions why the exchange is not opening.
First - the reaction of millions of private investors may be very sharp
For several years, their savings have been actively involved in the investment sphere, but now people will have to realize the depth of the expression "There are more important things than the stock market" and many will leave the market altogether (if there is anything). A further increase in social tension is definitely not included in the plans of the Russian authorities - not out of humanity (a strange word these days), but at least out of elementary caution. Therefore, the exchange platform is likely to remain closed until the onset of at least some kind of geopolitical detente.
The second is the actions of foreigners
Foreign investors can act not only as panic sellers, further increasing pressure on the market. Among them, there will certainly be risky players (for example, from countries that are not "unfriendly") who are ready to buy shares in Russian companies at a bargain price. It is quite possible that the Russian authorities are developing practical mechanisms to neutralize foreign sellers of assets and to regulate the actions of foreign buyers - until such mechanisms are created, the launch of the auction will be postponed.
The third and probably the most important thing is what to do with repo transactions?
Recall that "repo" transactions (repurchasing agreement) are short-term loans secured by securities. The peculiarity of these transactions is that when the quotations of a stock or a bond that is a pledge decrease, the borrower is obliged to make additional collateral, otherwise the securities are subject to sale. The opening of exchange trades with a catastrophic drop in quotations will cause large-scale losses of banks and investment companies - it is their "repo" transactions that account for a significant share of exchange turnover.
In the most severe scenario, losses may also affect private investors, since their securities can be used by their brokers in repo operations (the investor must give prior consent to this, in return he usually receives preferential terms of service). Apparently, regulators and major market participants are now looking for ways to resolve the losses that arise, and the trillion rubles promised by the government of the Russian Federation from the National Welfare Fund is intended to solve this problem. True, some experts believe that more significant amounts are needed to settle losses, someone even calls the figure 10 trillion rubles, which is comparable to the size of the entire NWF (13.6 trillion rubles as of 01.02.2022).
It is possible that even with the favorable development of the geopolitical situation, the market will open in parts.
What will happen after the exchange opens?
There are a lot of reasons not to open the market right now - panic of asset owners, REPO transactions and actions of non-residents. There are also many reasons to open the market urgently - the funds of millions of Russians turned out to be absolutely illiquid. But many could be planning to sell or buy new assets.
The exchange can be opened at any time. The question is different. What market movement will we see with the opening? If it exceeds the acceptable thresholds, then with the opening of the exchange we will see its closure as well.
Thus, we suggest that investors focus not on the ”opening date" of the market, but on the actions that should be performed with the opening of the market.
Specifically to analyze the financial situation of companies, stocks and bonds, we have launched a series of "Investment Committees" on the IF+ platform. Our analysts clearly and consistently analyze the prospects of companies in the current situation, looking for outsiders and the most promising players in the market.