Russian Bear Arrives as RTS Stock Index Slides - Bloomberg

Russian Bear Arrives as RTS Stock Index Slides  - Bloomberg:



"Russia’s dollar-denominated RTS Index entered a bear market as a court ruling restricting AFK Sistema from receiving dividend payments from its OAO Bashneft unit wiped a quarter off the holding’s value.



The RTS dropped 2.6 percent to 1,126.21 by the close in Moscow, the lowest since April 25 and taking its decline from a June 24 high to 21 percent. The benchmark Micex Index fell 1.8 percent to 1,408.28. Sistema, controlled by the billionaire placed under house arrest in a probe into alleged money laundering, tumbled 25 percent to 12.68 rubles. The stock has lost 65 percent since Vladimir Evtushenkov’s Sept. 16 detention.



The RTS extended its worst quarter in three years as investors drew parallels with the 2003 arrest of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, which preceded the dismantling of his Yukos oil company. The ruling is linked to a civil claim against Sistema and Sistema-Invest in connection with alleged violations during the state’s sale of Bashneft, Sistema said in an e-mailed statement today."



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