The volume of trading on the markets of the Moscow Exchange in March, when a number of sections were not available to investors, exceeded 154 trillion rubles. – this is twice as much as in March 2021 and 51% more than in February, follows from the data of the site. This was an absolute record in the history of trading. In the first month of spring, there were six trading days on the stock market, 9 on the bond market, 20 on the derivatives market, 21 on the foreign exchange and precious metals markets, and 22 on the money market.
The main trading volume this month fell on the money market – 110.3 trillion rubles. (72%), which is three times higher than in March 2021 and 2.8 times higher than in February. Traditionally, this section accounts for a significant share of the total turnover, but usually it is 31-35%. In February, the money market in the total turnover accounted for 35% (40.2 trillion rubles), another 34% accounted for the currency.
On average, the turnover of trading in the monetary section per day amounted to 5 trillion rubles. For comparison: in February, the indicator was at the level of 2 trillion rubles, in January – 1.2 trillion rubles. Demand for repo transactions with a central counterparty (the key segment) amounted to RUB 26.8 trillion.
Since the end of February, the Central Bank has been actively supporting banks with liquidity, providing it through repo mechanisms (secured by securities). In March, the daily demand of banks under the repo mechanism ranged from 500 billion to more than 4 trillion rubles. From February 24 until March 31, the banking sector moved from a state of structural liquidity surplus to a deficit. This means that the banks were more interested in raising money from the Central Bank than in placing the surplus on deposits with the regulator. As of March 3, the structural deficit reached a record 7 trillion rubles. and then began to decline. On that day, the Central Bank’s claims on banks amounted to 9.8 trillion rubles, of which almost 5 trillion rubles fell on repo operations (together with a currency swap). At the beginning of April 4, the sector already had a structural surplus of 603 billion rubles.
In the foreign exchange market, the trading volume increased to 41 trillion rubles, which is 28.6% (32 trillion rubles) more than in March last year and by 19% in February. Of this amount, a large part falls on forward and swap transactions (32.7 trillion rubles), another 8.3 trillion rubles. accounted for spot transactions.
The volume of trading in the stock market section amounted to only 635 billion rubles, which is almost 7 times less than in March 2027 (4.4 trillion rubles) and 8.8 times less than in February (5.6 trillion rubles). The turnover of shares, depositary receipts and shares reached 445.2 billion rubles. – This is five times less than last year (2.6 trillion rubles) and 10.5 times lower than February. On average, the volume of trading in shares, stocks and depositary receipts per day in March amounted to 74.2 billion rubles. In February, on average, they traded 231.9 billion rubles a day, and in March last year – 121.4 billion rubles.
The smallest turnover of trade in the stock market section was observed in bonds. In March, the turnover of trading in corporate, regional and government bonds amounted to 190 billion rubles. – nine times less than in March 2021 (1.7 trillion rubles) and 5.3 times less than February (1 trillion rubles).
Almost the entire volume of trading (about 98%) in March on the Moscow Exchange fell on the money and foreign exchange markets, says Oleg Syrovatkin , a leading analyst at the Otkritie investitsii global research department. “This is not surprising, given that out of 22 working days of the month, trading took place here on 22 and 21 days, respectively,” he said.
The higher YoY trading volume was driven by sharp fluctuations in exchange rates, first amid unprecedented Western sanctions on Russia, and then due to large-scale measures to protect the ruble taken by the Central Bank, the expert said. Among such measures, for example, the mandatory sale of 80% of foreign exchange earnings by exporters, a ban on the admission of foreign investors to the markets of the Moscow Exchange. Not the last role here was played by a sharp increase in the key rate to 20%, Syrovatkin notes.
A noticeable increase in repo transactions with the central counterparty in the money market was probably due to the growing need for additional liquidity from the financial sector.
