Russia’s RTS Slides Into Bear Market as Sistema Tumbles
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Russia’s dollar-denominated RTS Index slid into a bear market as a court ruling restricting AFK Sistema from receiving dividend payments from its unit OAO Bashneft sent the stock tumbling 25 percent.
The equity gauge retreated 2.6 percent to 1,126.21, taking its drop from a June 24 high to 21 percent. The benchmark Micex Index fell 1.8 percent to 1,408.28 by the close in Moscow. Sistema, controlled by the Russian billionaire placed under house arrest this month amid a probe into alleged money laundering, tumbled to 12.68 rubles. The stock has lost 65 percent of its market value since Vladimir Evtushenkov’s Sept. 16 detention.