Moody’s aligns itself with Fitch’s position, cutting Russia’s sovereign debt rating to junk level. The rating, the rating agency underlined, remains under observation for the possibility of further downgrades. Fitch’s announcement came yesterday, following S & P’s rejection of junk last week.
And if the debt is now branded as garbage by the three major rating agencies, Russian-made equities are certainly not doing well, given that the companies that compile the FTSE Russell and MSCI indices have announced in the last few hours that the shares of the Russian listed companies will all be removed from the indices in which they are present.
The Ftse Russell has announced that the decision will be effective starting from next 7 March, while the MSCI has announced that the removal of the Russian securities will take place after the close of trading on 9 March.
Fitch cut Russia’s debt rating from “BBB” to “B” with a negative watch rating. Moody’s rating was also raised to junk, at “B3”.