Financial Markets and Financial Institutions in Russia in 2016

In 2016, Russia's stock market, in terms of its rates of return, set a world record among all the other stock markets. Over that year, the RTS Index gained 52.3%, and the MICEX Index –26.8% (Fig. 1). The faster growth rate of the RTS Index, which reflects the price of shares in US dollar terms, can be explained by the ruble's strengthening in 2016. The other forces behind the growth of the Russian stock indexes were the rising oil prices, the inflow of non-residents' money in response to the strengthening ruble and the stably high key interest rate, and investor expectations of recovery economic growth.