The foreign exchange market remains leader by the volume of operations. Its share in the MICEX Group’s total turnover amounts to 67.3%. In the first nine months of 2005, the volume of transactions in foreign currencies reached 402.3 billion dollars and exceeded almost 2 times the same figure for 2004 (205.2 billion dollars). In this year’s figure, transactions in “dollar-ruble” pair of currencies account for 399.6 billion dollars. The volume of trading in the euro amounted to 2.2 billion euros, which exceeds by 38.6% the same figure for 2004. In the third quarter, commission for swaps in the US dollar in the foreign exchange market was reduced by more than half, while the time of trading in “ruble-dollar” and “euro-ruble” instruments was extended.
In the third quarter of 2005, the volume of trading in corporate securities on the MICEX Stock Exchange grew considerably. The stocks of leading Russian issuers showed stable growth. In the first nine months of 2005, the total volume of transactions in non-government securities, including stocks, bonds, shares of mutual funds and repos, reached 146.1 billion dollars, which exceeds by 36.6% the result of the same period in 2004 (107 billion dollars). The share of operations in these instruments in the total turnover of the MICEX Group amounted to 24.4%. In the first three quarters of 2005, the volume of transactions in stocks on the MICEX Stock Exchange amounted to 90.8 billion dollars, 13.8% more than in 2004. In 2005, three companies made their IPOs: Khleb Altaya (Altay Bread), Severstal-Auto and Lebedyansky. The capitalization of the market of stocks traded on the MICEX Stock Exchange reached 242.5 billion dollars (at the end of 2004: 149.5 billion dollars). Since the beginning of 2005, the MICEX Index has grown by 61.6% to 892.50 points (on 30.12.2004: 552.22 points), reflecting positive changes in the Russian stock market.
The market of corporate and regional bonds continues to grow rapidly. Its share in the total turnover has reached 9.3%. In the first nine months of 2005, the volume of transactions in corporate bonds reached 34.3 billion dollars (growth: 2.1 times), regional bonds – 20.1 billion dollars (growth: 1.8 times) and municipal bonds – 880 million dollars (growth: 3.6 times). The volume of trading in shares of mutual funds reached 8 million dollars (growth: 2.1 times). The volume of REPO operations in bonds grew to 10.8 billion dollars (growth: 1.8 times).
Since the beginning of 2005, the number of securities traded on the MICEX Stock Exchange grew by 38%, while the number of issuers whose securities are admitted to trading grew by 33%. The number of securities listed on the MICEX Stock Exchange grew by 47%, while the number of issuers grew by 44%. At present, 592 securities of 430 issuers are traded on the MICEX Stock Exchange. Of them 194 securities of 105 issuers are listed.
In the government securities market, in the first three quarters of 2005, the total volume of transactions grew 1.2 times and amounted to 46.6 billion US dollars (in the same period of 2004: 38.1 billion dollars), including transactions in OBRs and REPO operations. The share of this segment in the total turnover of the MICEX Group amounts to 7.8%. Inter-dealer REPO transactions in the government securities market show the most rapid growth: in the first three quarters of 2005, their volume amounted to 6.2 billion dollars and exceeded 16.2 times the result of the same period of the last year. The growth of the market of the bonds of the Bank of Russia, restored in 2004, is also quite impressive: in the first nine months of 2005, the volume of placement of OBRs amounted to 8.1 billion dollars.
The derivatives market in currency futures demonstrates the most rapid growth, which is explained by the growing volatility of the currency market and traders’ interest in hedging. In the first three quarters of 2005, the volume of transactions in the Derivatives (Standard Contracts) Market Section of the MICEX reached 2.7 billion dollars, which is 19 times more than in the same period of 2004 and 6 times more than in the whole 2004. By the end of September, the volume of open positions in the “ruble-dollar” contract reached 440 million dollars (end of 2004: 139 million dollars).
