After a run of hasty sell-offs following unprecedented anti-government protests in December, investors are no longer being put off by political risk in Russia, analysts say. There was no noticeable market reaction to an anti-government protest march of around 100,000 people, which swept Moscow on Saturday.
The protest was the third sanctioned mass meeting in the capital to protest against election fraud at December's parliamentary elections and was accompanied by political protests across the country both in favor of and against the ruling authorities.
"Political risk eases further... and international financial news and the trend in global markets will again be the main driver of Moscow's bourses and the ruble this week," Chris Weafer, strategist at the Troika Dialog investment bank wrote on Monday in an emailed note to investors.
Other analysts weren't so optimistic about the drop in political risk, with Citigroup strategist Kingsmill Bond noting in an e-mailed comment that the tail risks would still cause a discount to Russian stocks in the foreseeable future.
Andrei Tolstousov, portfolio manager at the Moscow-based Grandis Capital investment company, told The Moscow News that Russian bourses were quiet Monday as investors await a decision from the Greek government on whether or not it will accept the conditions on a new tranche of its IMF loan.
Global investment funds focused on the Russian market attracted more than $414 million in the last week of January, the highest weekly volume since April 2011, Vedomosti reported Monday.
Russia recorded net capital outflows of $84.2 billion in 2011 including $37.8 billion in the fourth quarter, due partly to the perceived heightened political risk, the Central Bank said last month.
Central Bank First Deputy Chairman Alexei Ulyukaev told Reuters that the bank was optimistic since the markets have already included political risks in their estimations.
He said the Central Bank was preparing to leave the ruble for free float.
"Before we used to sell $5-15 billion a month, but now we have reduced the amount of our operations from billions to millions," Ulyukaev told Reuters TV.
Keywords: Russia, Economy, Investment - Russia, Government, Politics - Russia News - Russia
After a run of hasty sell-offs following unprecedented anti-government protests in December, investors are no longer being put off by political risk in Russia, analysts say.
There was no noticeable market reaction to an anti-government protest march of around 100,000 people, which swept Moscow on Saturday.
The protest was the third sanctioned mass meeting in the capital to protest against election fraud at December's parliamentary elections and was accompanied by political protests across the country both in favor of and against the ruling authorities.
"Political risk eases further... and international financial news and the trend in global markets will again be the main driver of Moscow's bourses and the ruble this week," Chris Weafer, strategist at the Troika Dialog investment bank wrote on Monday in an emailed note to investors.
Other analysts weren't so optimistic about the drop in political risk, with Citigroup strategist Kingsmill Bond noting in an e-mailed comment that the tail risks would still cause a discount to Russian stocks in the foreseeable future.
Andrei Tolstousov, portfolio manager at the Moscow-based Grandis Capital investment company, told The Moscow News that Russian bourses were quiet Monday as investors await a decision from the Greek government on whether or not it will accept the conditions on a new tranche of its IMF loan.
Global investment funds focused on the Russian market attracted more than $414 million in the last week of January, the highest weekly volume since April 2011, Vedomosti reported Monday.
Russia recorded net capital outflows of $84.2 billion in 2011 including $37.8 billion in the fourth quarter, due partly to the perceived heightened political risk, the Central Bank said last month.
Central Bank First Deputy Chairman Alexei Ulyukaev told Reuters that the bank was optimistic since the markets have already included political risks in their estimations.
He said the Central Bank was preparing to leave the ruble for free float.
"Before we used to sell $5-15 billion a month, but now we have reduced the amount of our operations from billions to millions," Ulyukaev told Reuters TV.