In the course of trading on January 18, the Moscow Exchange Index fell to 3297.12 points (by 6.5%), updating the minimum since April 2021. This is evidenced by the data of the trading platform at 17:33 Moscow time.
The previous major collapse of the Russian stock market happened on March 12, 2020 — then the Moscow Exchange index fell by 8.28%.
The RTS index fell below 1400 points for the first time since January 2021. The dollar exchange rate exceeded 76.7 rubles at 18:33 Moscow time, the euro exchange rate — 87.1 rubles.
The Ministry of Finance reported that in December, the total income from the placement of funds from the National Welfare Fund (NWF) in financial assets amounted to 257 billion rubles. The shares of Sberbank and Aeroflot, in which the funds of the national fund are invested, have fallen by 60 and 7 points, respectively, since November.
RBC notes that the collapse in the value of Russian shares continued after The New York Times reported that that Russia began to export the families of its diplomats from Ukraine, and also intensified after the end of the negotiations between the heads of the ministries of foreign affairs of Russia and Germany — Sergey Lavrov and Annalena Burbock.