Russian Invasion of Ukraine Sends Shockwaves Across the Equity Markets

The escalation of conflict between Russia and Ukraine has sent the equity markets spiraling into the red.

With yesterday’s news of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the escalation of conflict has sent the whole market spiraling. The main German index DAX declined by 3.96% since the beginning of the invasion, CAC 40 declined by 3.83%, FTSE declined by 3.88%, ATX declined by 7.21%, WIG declined by as much as 10.7%, while the MOEX (the main index on the Moscow Stock Exchange declined by as much as -50% intraday, recovering to around -33% by the day’s close.

Turning our attention to the US, S&P 500 ended the day on +1.50%, while Nasdaq Composite increased by 3.34%. The indices started the day in red, but the news of harsh US sanctions to Russia gave investors some assurances, causing the indices to bounce back.

Looking over to the region, BET declined by -4%, SOFIX declined by -1.9%, MB10 declined by -8.65%, SBITOP decreased by -7.35%, while CROBEX declined by -6.48%.

If we were to look at the companies which were affected the most in Croatia, AD Plastik decreased by almost 18%, Ingra decreased by 11.8%, Dalekovod decreased by 11.84%, Atlantska Plovidba decreased by 11.5%, Viktor Lenac decreased by 11.2%, while Petrokemija decreased by 10%. On the flip side, Kraš did not lose any value (0% change), Optima Telekom decreased by 1.15%, while HT decreased by 2.66%.

Influence on CROBEX (%)

Meanwhile, Slovenia marked the 4th worst day on the equity market since 2007. Krka was the most affected company, having a decrease of 10.3%, followed by NLB with 8.5%, Triglav with 7.1%, while Cinkarna Celje, Sava Re, Telekom Slovenije declined by over 5%, with Petrol and Luka Koper declining by slightly less than 5% (-4.9% and -4.8%, respectively).

Influence on SBITOP (%)

With the current situation extremely volatile, and developments happening at very fast intervals, it is difficult to say how the situation will develop or how it will influence further market movements. However, further conflict escalation will have more dire consequences on the equity markets, especially on the companies which have some part of their business in Eastern Europe, and especially Russia (e.g. Krka, AD Plastik).