14 October 2003 18:36
RUSSIA: RTS SCALES NEW HEIGHTS
The benchmark Russian Trading System (RTS) stock exchange smashed a six-year-old record last week to soar to new
highs, briefly rising to a historic summit of 607.31 before closing on 3 October at 594.26, according to the
exchange's news service. The RTS began the year at 360.79 and since then has gained 233.47 points, a 64.7 percent
increase. The previous record of 575.31 was set on 6 October 1997 after Russia signed an agreement with the London Club
of creditors, "Kommersant-Daily" reported on 2 October, and reaction to the latest record focused on the
validity of historical parallels. (After shattering records in 1997, the RTS soon fell victim to the Asian financial
crisis and then Russia's own economic crisis in 1998.) "Vedomosti" reported on 2 October that "not
one of the analysts and brokers surveyed by [the newspaper] said that the situation on the market reminded him of events
six years ago." Pavel Naumov, head of equity trading at Renaissance Capital, joined the chorus in comments to
"The Moscow Times" the same day, saying, "Companies in the index have changed, investors have changed,
the world situation has changed." But as the market continued to rise toward the end of the week, some doubters
emerged. Roland Nash, chief strategist at Renaissance Capital, told "The Moscow Times" on 3 October,
"We're now in territory that stretches fundamental valuations." Mikhail Sukhobok, deputy director of
brokerage VEO-Otkrytie, echoed the anxiety, telling "Kommersant-Daily" on 4 October, "I'm very glad
we're seeing this growth. But personally, I can't get the parallels with 1997 out of my head." Copyright
(c) 2003. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
[AIW [Asia Africa Intelligence Wire]] |
RUSSIA IN FACTS
