Traders Are Racing to Bet on the End to Russian Sanctions
- Investors are buying all kinds of assets with a link to Russia
- ‘They want to be the first ones in the trade,’ says Marinichev
With speculation swirling that the US easing of Russian sanctions is perhaps just weeks away, investors are rushing to buy assets with any link to Moscow.
They’re turning to the Hong Kong market and snapping up shares listed there of United Co. Rusal International PJSC, the Moscow-based aluminum giant, at such a fast clip the price has jumped more than 50% this month. In Vienna, they’ve bid up shares of Raiffeisen Bank International AG, an Austrian bank with a Moscow-based subsidiary, by 35% this year; and in Budapest, they’ve sent OTP Bank Nyrt, which still has operations in Russia, up 10%.