Russian worries for the world of finance

The end of November still provided some hope that investors (supported by some rather promising economic data and macroforecasts) would start shopping on a wave of Christmas optimism. However, this turned out not to be the case, mainly due to the situation in Russia. The sudden decline in the value of the ruble (in 2014 the Russian currency lost even more than the Ukrainian hryvnia) also pulled the Russian stock exchange down. Over 2014, the RTS index (the index of 50 largest companies listed on the Moscow trading floor) lost over 45 pct – and the post-Christmas week saw even more dramatic developments. A huge hike in Russian interest rates (from 10 to 17 pct) to protect the ruble did not achieve much, but the narrow range of resources the Russians have at their disposal to handle this crisis is generating anxiety around the globe. The low price of oil is doing nothing for global investors’ evaluation of Russia. The selling off of assets beyond the eas