Russian stocks, ruble halt slide as traders digest key sanctions

Bloomberg

The ruble and stocks paused their historic slump as Western sanctions on Russia appeared less severe than some had
expected.
The benchmark MOEX index was up 15% after losing as much as 45% the day before in the wake of Russia’s attack on Ukraine. The ruble gained 2.1% against the dollar after sinking to a record low.
Still, new sanctions on Russian banks pushed their bonds weaker and helped erase half the value of the nation’s two biggest lenders this week. Local government debt extended their retreat, with the yield on 10-year notes jumping more than one percentage point.
US sanctions deployed were the toughest yet on Russia, targeting banks and technology imports. But the penalties also included carve-outs for energy payments, a crucial source of revenue for Moscow, and held off from barring Russia from the Swift international banking network.
“The market was pricing in the nuclear sanctions option,” said Luis Saenz, head of international distribution at Sinara in London. “This morning we see investors dipping their toes back as the announced sanctions were not as severe as the market was pricing in.”
The US penalties targeted Russia’s two biggest lenders — Sberbank PJSC and VTB Bank PJSC — the latter with full blocking sanctions. In response, Russia’s central bank said it’s ready to support banks targeted and can help with rubles and foreign currency. In a statement it said it will raise the limit on its repo auction to $35.8 billion after announcing 1 trillion rubles on Thursday.
Sberbank shares were up 11% in Moscow, paring yesterday’s collapse, though half their value has been wiped out in the week.