And while that correction looked to have arrived last Wednesday when the MICEX Index plummeted over 7 percent and the dollar-denominated RTS Index lost 4.5 percent, both indexes managed to recover and, against all odds, end the week up 1.9 percent and over 5 percent, respectively.
Analysts have predicted that the MICEX and RTS indexes could only add 5 percent to 10 percent above 1,000 before some correction had to ensue ?€” a point the two have now reached.
Yet every time investors try to take profits, they are foiled by the arrival of more good news, said Alexander Zakharov, co-head of equities at Metropol. "The market sees inflows are drying up, and more and more people are trying to play games and they're getting burned because of the emergence of more new good statistics," Zakharov said.
The so-called G2 are the source of most of this week's good news. A U.S. jobs report was released on Friday that showed unemployment increasing slower than expected.
Meanwhile, China lathered on the euphoria, announcing that its manufacturing Purchasing Manager's Index had expanded for the third month in a row.
"More observers are saying the macroeconomic flow of data coming out of the U.S. is very positive," said Yaroslav Lissovolik, chief economist at Deutsche Bank. "The news flow from China has also been relatively good, with the growth outlook reported as relatively benign compared with past results."
But oil, as always, remains one of the main engines of the Russian economy. The country's Urals export blend closed trading this week at $67.41, while a Goldman Sachs forecast on Thursday predicted that the price of crude could rise as high as $85 a barrel this year.
Significant moves in dollar and oil price contributed to the markets' volatility this week, Lissovolik said. But also playing a role were several downgrades from major investment houses.
On Wednesday, Citigroup downgraded Russian stocks to "underweight" from "overweight," and a day earlier Morgan Stanley downgraded four Russian steel and coal producers.
The MICEX soared 7.4 percent to 1206.2 points Monday but quickly gave up the gains, plummeting 7.5 percent on Wednesday. It managed to eke out gains Thursday and Friday to finish the week up 1.8 percent at 1114.27.
The RTS Index reported similar ups and downs, rising 7.3 percent to 1167.4 points Monday before giving back 4.5 percent on Wednesday. The index ended the week up 5.7 percent at 1149.95 points.
Feeling the blow of Morgan Stanley's downgrade, Norilsk Nickel finished the week down 3.4 percent, while Novolipetsk Steel gave up 1.8 percent.
VTB fell 10.3 percent on Wednesday after Goldman Sachs downgraded the bank and ended the week down 3.8 percent. Sberbank, which fluctuated wildly throughout the week, still managed to finish up 14.8 percent.
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