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That reaction suggests Washington’s ban on U.S. investors buying new Russian rouble bonds – OFZs as they are known – is being perceived as yet another annoyance for a market that’s coped for years with sanctions risk.
Investors had feared “nuclear” options such as barring U.S. firms completely from rouble debt or cutting Russia out of international money-transfer systems. Those may yet come to pass. But for now, U.S. funds can buy the bonds in secondary markets, which is what most of them already do.
Yet many caution the U.S. move is an escalation from previous sanctions against individuals and Russian dollar debt.
Analysis: No knockout, but new U.S. sanctions add to Russia s slow destruction
By Marc Jones, Sujata Rao and Tom Arnold
Reuters
LONDON (Reuters) - For all the insouciance with which markets treated Washington s latest sanctions on Russia, its move to target Moscow s main funding avenue - the rouble bond market - has in some ways, crossed the Rubicon, potentially with far-reaching consequences.
Drawing on experiences of sanctions imposed previously, including after the 2014 Ukraine crisis and the Mueller report on Russia s alleged U.S. election meddling, money managers haven t rushed to dump Russian assets en masse.
The rouble, which fell as much as 2% at one point on Thursday, has clawed back losses and is on its way to recording its best week this year; Russian bond yields, on local as well as international markets, have fallen.