S&P Dow Jones makes a rare move to deprive ALL Russian companies of its eponymous stock indices and to reclassify the country as an “independent” market
- Russian companies will be eliminated from the Dow and S&P 500 by March 9
- The company behind the indexes is also depriving Russia of its “emerging market” status.
- Russia will now be an “independent” country that is not represented worldwide indices
- Moscow is facing criminal economic isolation due to the invasion of Ukraine
S&P Dow Jones The indices will remove any company based or registered in Russia from its famous stock exchange indices after invasion of Ukraine.
As of March 9, Russian companies will no longer be included in the Dow Jones Industrial Average or the S&P 500 benchmark, the company said after the stock indexes on Friday.
The stock index tracks the performance of a basket of company share prices and is used to present and understand trends in the wider market.
Although stock indices are regularly rebalanced, with companies being removed or added to reflect market trends, a nationwide industry ban is extremely rare.
S&P DJI also said it would deprive Russia of its “emerging market” status and reclassify it as an “independent” country.
S&P Dow Jones indices will remove any company based or registered in Russia from its famous stock indices after the country’s invasion of Ukraine
The company’s global capital indices are divided into three main classifications of countries – developed, emerging and border – and countries that do not fall into any of the three are considered “independent” for the purpose of constructing the index.
S&P DJI said it classified Russia as independent due to “deteriorating levels of accessibility in the Russian market.”
It is unclear how many Russian companies are currently involved in the Dow or S&P and may be affected by the ban.
Earlier on Friday, the New York Stock Exchange halted trading in three Russia-focused electronic trading funds (ETFs), which are similar to mutual funds that can be traded as shares on a stock exchange.
The exchange stopped trading in iShares MSCI Russia ETF, Franklin FTSE Russia ETF and Direxion Daily Russia Bull 2X Shares, citing regulatory concerns.
These suspensions of trade are considered temporary and not suspensions or delusions.
Russian companies will no longer be represented in the Dow Jones Industrial Average (above)
The S&P 500 is also being cleaned up by all companies based in Russia
Both the NYSE and Nasdaq have suspended trading in shares of Russian-based companies due to regulatory concerns.
These moves close almost all opportunities for Americans to invest in Russian assets and come after the United States and Europe imposed criminal sanctions on Moscow.
The London Stock Exchange also stopped trading more than 50 Russian securities to “maintain orderly markets.”
Russia’s own stock exchange, MOEX, has been closed for five days in a row as the Kremlin tries to protect companies there from a brutal sell-off.
Between official sanctions and the actions of private companies to withdraw from Russia, Moscow now faces a level of economic isolation comparable to that of Iran or North Korea.
Both the NYSE (above) and Nasdaq have suspended trading in shares of Russian-based companies due to regulatory concerns
Airbnb and Microsoft have become the last major global companies to suspend operations in Russia as the influx of Western companies added their own penalties to official sanctions against Moscow for invading Ukraine.
Airbnb CEO Brian Cesky announced the suspension Thursday, which includes Russia’s ally Belarus. This brings his company in line with other big Western names that are severing ties with Russia, including General Motors, Boeing and Google.
The eviction of Western companies is stepping up pressure on Vladimir Putin, and ordinary Russians can no longer buy Apple iPhones, Nike sneakers or IKEA furniture after those companies stopped all exports to the country.
Microsoft also said on Friday it was suspending new sales of its products and services in Russia, another step after removing RT’s mobile apps from the Windows App Store and banning ads in Russian-sponsored media.