Market upheaval as Moscow Exchange halts trading amid rouble rally

Source: Supplied.

In its official statement, MOEX confirmed that the decision to not resume trading during the evening session was made after consulting with market participants. This action followed a rally in the Russian rouble and stocks earlier in the day, sparked by a phone call between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, during which they discussed a potential peace agreement for Ukraine.

The rouble ended the day up 3.7% at 90.50 against the dollar, according to over-the-counter market data.

During the trading session, the rouble briefly reached 89.90, its highest level since 11 September, 2024, while Russian media reported that some foreign-exchange booths in Moscow shut down, unable to keep up with the rapid decline of the dollar.

This volatility follows the imposition of US sanctions on 12 June, 2024, which aimed at cutting the flow of money and goods to sustain Russia's war in Ukraine, leading to the suspension of trading in US dollars and euros on the Moscow Exchange (MOEX).

MOEX's repeated disruptions

Yesterday's trading disruption on the Moscow Exchange (MOEX) was not the first such incident in recent years. On 13 February, 2024, MOEX suspended trading on its stock market at 1:58 pm. Moscow time (10:58am GMT) due to a hardware error on its main server.

The exchange announced that trading would resume at 3:45 pm. Moscow time (12:45 pm GMT). During this period, trading on other markets, including currency, derivatives, and precious metals, continued as usual.

While markets for currency, derivatives, and precious metals carried on without interruption, stock market trading came to a standstill for hours as the exchange scrambled to fix the issue.

In February 2022, following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the Moscow Exchange also suspended trading on all markets until further notice. It remained closed for nearly a month, reopening in March 2022 with significant restrictions.

Although the Moscow Exchange experienced disruptions on 13 February in both 2024 and 2025, the exact reason behind this recurring pattern remains unclear.

The Moscow Exchange apologised for any inconvenience caused by yesterday's halt in trading.