The Moscow stock market has fallen sharply in this. Since Monday, the MOEX.ME has fallen by more than 25% and is staggering along at the moment. In addition, the Russian ruble sank to a new record low. The Russian Central Bank announced on Thursday after trading to intervene in the Forex market to get the volatility under control. With the announcement that selected Russian banks will now be excluded from the SWIFT system, a further crash in stocks is expected next week.
Russia’s major natural resources companies also took a severe hit on Thursday. This is likely to remain the case for the time being, even though traders took the opportunity to bet on a small upswing after the shares had fallen sharply on Thursday. As a result, some of the shares of Russia’s major natural resources companies jumped back by double digits on Friday.
The share of Gazprom, the Russian gas and oil giant, has lost a lot this week and lost a whopping 37.28% to $5.30. Gazprom, as one of the main suppliers of gas and oil for Europe, will probably have to keep calm for the time being, after it is not yet clear how hard the sanctions will hit the Russian company. What is clear is that the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline certification has been put on hold for the time being. Still, Europe is very dependent on Russian energy products such as gas, oil, and coal. It remains to be seen until next week what will happen in this regard. In the past, Russia has repeatedly emphasized that Asian markets, in particular, should become more of a focus.
The share of the Russian mining giant Norilsk Nickel also had to take a big leap backward this week. The stock fell 19.48% this week to $22.93. Norilsk Nickel produces many important metals that are essential for electric vehicles, such as nickel, copper, and cobalt. The company also produces other important metals, including the precious metals gold, silver, platinum, palladium, and rhodium. Norilsk Nickel is the world’s largest nickel producer, accounting for approximately 17% of global nickel supply; the world’s largest palladium producer, accounting for 41% of global supply; one of the top five platinum producers; and one of the top ten copper producers in the world.
Shares of Polyus, the world’s third-largest gold producer, fell 17.35% to $72.00 this week. Russia’s largest gold producer is only the third-largest producer of gold but has proven to have the world’s largest gold reserves.
These companies produce all natural resources that are essential for global applications. It is doubtful that the global economy will be able to fully replace Russian supplies of raw materials, which is why it remains to be seen how the situation will develop in the coming months.