Snapshot Review of Financial Markets
Monitoring of Russian Economic Outlook. Moscow. IEP. 2020. No. 7, pp. 34-46
13 Pages Posted: 8 May 2020
Date Written: May 5, 2020
Abstract
Over the past week (from April 3 to April 9), a ‘rebound’ was observed in the oil and gas markets that had to do with the expectations of an agreement being reached on oil production cut in the OPEC+ format, alongside hopes for passing negative peaks in coronavirus statistics in the USA. The adoption of massive financial relief programs worldwide helped sustain the bond markets and banks. The yield spreads even of risky sovereign and corporate bonds over government bonds have declined markedly. A certain euphoria could be felt on the markets. However, a lot of factors suggest that this respite for financial markets will be temporary. This week the market received a wave of alarming information related to a serious recession in the world’s biggest economies, expected for the most part to start from Q2 of this year. Obviously, this piece of news will be followed by negative information concerning the financial statements of corporations. All this is likely to produce yet another downturn in the financial asset markets. The risks of a massive capital flight from the debt market are still there. At this stage, the main support measures in many countries aim at preventing big companies’ defaults and maintaining the viability of small and medium-sized businesses.
Keywords: Russian economy, bond market, coronavirus-induced crisis, financial assets market
JEL Classification: G14, G32, G15, E44
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation