Credit: The Moscow Interbank Currency Exchange, or MICEX, is the biggest stock market in Russia, having merged with the competing Russian Trading System (RTS) in 2011.
[caption align="alignright" caption="The MICEX stock exchange in Moscow"] 
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The MICEX index includes 30 of the largest and most liquid companies traded on the exchange. The exchange also publishes indices based on market capitalization, industry, region, and a specialized index that tracks the prices of different oil products.
Russia's economy is the 7th largest in the world with GDP of $2.3 trillion on a "purchasing power" basis, edging out Brazil's $2.2 trillion. But the market capitalization of the MICEX-RTS ranks just 18th at $700 billion, and annual trading volume is one-third of Brazilian levels, around $350 billion.
That reflects the uneven record of privatization since Soviet Communism collapsed in 1991, and the fact that many new owners, or "oligarchs" shy away from public markets that would bring increased scrutiny of their businesses.
The value of the MICEX is historically linked to global prices of oil and other commodities that make up the large majority of Russia's export earnings. But the link is not automatic. Over the past year, global emerging markets share prices, as reflected in the MSCI Emerging Markets Index ( EEM , quote ) have proved a significantly better predictor of the MICEX than oil prices.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
