.jpg)
In the first nine months of 2006 the combined volume of exchange-based trading in all of the MICEX Group’s markets amounted to 35.789 trillion rubles (1312.7 billion US dollars), 2.1 times more than in the same period of 2005. According to the MICEX President Alexander Potemkin, “contrary to our last year’s cautious expectations, the financial market continues to develop rapidly. This shows that business activity in the financial sphere and in the country’s economy remains high. Besides, substantial trade volumes reached in the MICEX Group’s markets enable us to take further steps to reduce infrastructure costs of participants in trading on the MICEX.”
The foreign exchange market accounts for the largest volumes of operations. Its share in the total exchange-based volume of trading within the MICEX Group amounts to 53.1% (in 2005: 67.6%). In January-September 2006 the volume of exchange-based deals in foreign currencies reached 696.3 billion dollars (18992 billion rubles), 1.7 times more than in the same period of 2005 (402.3 billion dollars). During this period the largest volume was accounted for by operations in USD/RUB instruments: 686.9 billion dollars worth of transactions in this pair (including swaps) were effected. Participants’ interest in EUR/RUB instruments is gradually growing: 7.4 billion euros worth of transactions were effected in the EUR/RUB segment, 3.4 times more than in 2005.
In January-September 2006 the proportion of swaps in the structure of the exchange-based FX market continued to grow. The total volume of swaps amounted to 256.6 billion dollars, 2.9 times more than in the same period of 2005. The volume of EUR/RUB swaps grew 35 times. To boost participants’ activity in the euro swaps segment, in August 2006 the MICEX halved (to 0.0005%) its commission for swaps.
This year one can see the rapid growth of liquidity of the exchange-based market for corporate securities on the MICEX Stock Exchange. In the first nine months of 2006 the total volume of transactions in non-government securities on the MICEX SE, including stocks, bonds, shares of mutual funds and repos, reached 13634 billion rubles (500.7 billion dollars), 3.3 times more than in the same period of 2005 (4121.5 billion rubles). The share of operations in these instruments in the overall turnover of the MICEX Group grew to 38.1% (in 2005: 23.1%).
In January-September 2006 the volume of all trades in shares on the MICEX Stock Exchange amounted to 10158 billion rubles (373.2 billion dollars), 4 times more than in the same period of 2005. Most actively traded were shares in Gazprom (30.2%), RAO UES (27.2%), LUKoil (15.4%), Norilsk Nickel (6.3%), Sberbank (5.5%), Rostelecom (4.8%), Surgutneftegaz (4.1%) and Mobile TeleSystems (1.7%). The volume of equity repos amounted to 2056 billion rubles (75.8 billion dollars), 4.7 times more than in the same period of 2005. The capitalization of the market for shares traded on the MICEX SE reached 19800 billion rubles or 740.2 billion dollars (at the end of 2005: 258.6 billion dollars) thanks to a favorable economic situation in the country and good news in financial markets.
This year’s most important event has been the liberalization of the market for Gazprom shares and the launch of trading in Gazprom shares on the MICEX Stock Exchange. The proportion of trades in Gazprom shares on the MICEX SE in the combined volume of exchange-based trading in Gazprom shares on all Russian exchanges grew from 10% on the first day of trading (23.01.2006) to 95% in September 2006. The MICEX Index, which shows the situation in the Russian stock market, grew by 35.2% since the beginning of the year to 1367.24 points (on 30.12.2005: 1011.00 points).
The market for corporate and regional bonds continues to grow rapidly. Its share in the combined exchange-based turnover reached 9.7%. In January-September 2006 the volume of transactions in corporate bonds amounted to 2574 billion rubles (94.5 billion dollars, 2.7 times more than in the same period of 2005), regional bonds – 872 billion rubles (32 billion dollars, growth: 1.5 times) and municipal bonds – 27 billion rubles (1 billion dollars). In September 2006 the combined rate for transactions in non-government bonds made in the main (anonymous) mode of trading on the MICEX Stock Exchange was reduced from 0.019% to 0.01% of the transaction value. This move is expected to support the ongoing positive trend. The volume of bond repos also grew considerably - to 1545 billion rubles (56.8 billion dollars, growth: 5.1 times).
Interest in shares of mutual funds is growing rapidly. The volume of exchange-based trading in these instruments amounted to 1.91 billion rubles (70 million dollars, growth: 8.4 times over the same period of 2005).
Since the beginning of 2006 the number of securities traded on the MICEX SE has grown by 26.6%, while the number of issuers whose securities are admitted to exchange-based trading has increased by 25.4%. At present the MICEX Stock Exchange holds trading in 853 securities of 524 issuers. 213 securities of 123 issuers are listed. Good news for issuers was the adoption of the new version of the Rules of Listing, Admission to Placement and Trading of Securities on the MICEX SE in June 2006. The Rules provide for the formation of the Innovative and Growth Companies Sector and the introduction of a new listing level, Quotation List “B”. Quotation List “B” includes common shares in Rosneft, which in July made the largest IPO in the Russian stock market.
In January-September 2006, in the government securities market and the money market the total volume of transactions grew 1.7 times and amounted to 2527 billion rubles or 92.4 billion dollars (in the same period of 2005: 1466 billion rubles), including transactions in GKO/OFZ, OBR, repos and deposit operations of the Bank of Russia. The share of this segment in the total exchange-based turnover of the MICEX Group is 7.1%. In the first nine months of 2006, in the government securities market the volume of repos (including direct and reverse repos against the Bank of Russia and inter-dealer repos) amounted to 1574 billion rubles or 57.5 billion dollar, having increased 2.7 times over the corresponding period of 2005. The range of traded instruments was widened as a result of admitting 22 issues of regional and corporate bonds to trading, which increased banks’ possibilities to refinance by concluding direct repos with the Bank of Russia. Deposit operations of the Bank of Russia using the MICEX trading system are developing steadily. In the first three quarters of 2006 the combined turnover of these operations exceeded 371 billion rubles or 13.6 billion dollars, 2.4 times more than in the same period of 2006.
Participants’ growing interest in the market for foreign exchange futures promoted the growth of these instruments’ liquidity. In January-September 2006, in the MICEX Derivatives (Standard Contracts) Market Section the volume of trading amounted to 636 billion rubles or 23.4 billion dollars, 8.5 times more than in the same period of 2005. The open interest in the USD/RUB contract in the MICEX derivatives market amounts to 1.3 billion dollars (on 30.09.05: 0.44 billion dollars). Futures on the money market interest rates were launched in May 2006.
In August 2006 The National Clearing Center (joint-stock commercial bank) obtained the Bank of Russia’s license to perform banking operations, which was important for the development of the MICEX Group’s structure. The National Clearing Center’s founders are the MICEX and The National Depository Center. The NCC will specialize in providing clearing services in exchange-based and OTC markets, including determining obligations of participants in clearing, offsetting these obligations and organizing the execution of obligations for transactions in compliance with the RF legislation.
