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MOSCOW, June 20The Moscow Exchange Index fell below 3,000 points during the day on Thursday after the Central Bank of the Russian Federation's tough rhetoric, reflected in the summary of the key rate discussion, said Oleg Abelev, head of the analytical department at Rikom-Trust Investment Company.
Earlier on Thursday, the Bank of Russia published a summary of the key rate discussion at the regulator's board of directors meeting on June 7.
The Moscow Exchange ruble index by 15.58 Moscow time is growing by 1.8%, to 3081.87 points. Earlier during trading, it dropped sharply by a maximum of 1.02%, to 2996.44 points — the minimum since December 15, then quickly compensated for the losses and turned positive.
«This is a consequence of increased volatility in the market; before the Central Bank's commentary on the extended meeting on the rate, the market was growing quite well. The Central Bank spoke quite harshly about a significant tightening of the key rate in the event of an alternative scenario, which means an increase in inflation expectations until mid-July,» the expert believes.
According to him, a significant increase in the rate is a range from 1.5 to 2 percentage points. «Obviously, if inflation does not decrease during the month and is not below 8% in annual terms, then we will see an increase to 17% or even 18.5% on July 26. Any increase in the rate is a plus for the deposit and debt markets, but not for the stock market,» he specified.
«It is clear that the index began to decline sharply against this background. Someone decided to open short positions against this background. That is why the index fell below 3,000 points. After that, the number of people willing to open such positions decreased. The market calmed down,» Abelev explains.