The biggest laggard MoM now appears the MoEx (Moscow Exchange) Index – the one which well outperformed all major world indices YTD. The range of 3010–3025 points for the MoEx Index points to a local support level, the drop below which can strengthen the correctional sentiment.

In contrast to last week's drawdown, key blue chips have come under pronounced pressure, in particular, shares of Sberbank (SBER.MO) and LUKOIL (LKOH.MO) have completely reversed their upward trends of the recent months. Technically, the stock market looks quite vulnerable, with sometimes elevating, though still explicitly moderate, valuations and scant news background contributing to the declines.

Investors fear that the MoEx Index, having failed to return to the peaks of the year, will continue to pullback towards the nearest support levels around 2980–3020 points. But the current market cooling may be viewed as a natural temporary consequence after the rapid growth of the last months and bearing purely correctional nature. The medium-term prospects of the Russian wartime economy, although somewhat lost its luster due to the CBR’s recent key rate hike, remain fairly viable as a dividend profile of the market for the time being remains very attractive.

Meanwhile, one of the most heavily contributing to the current doldrums factor, the war preparations in the Caucasus, looks like somewhat improving. The conflicting parties in the embattled Nagorno-Karabakh region have reportedly reached an agreement on a ceasefire. The agreement comes into force from 13:00 on September 20, 2023, reports "Armenian News" portal. Later, the agreement was confirmed by the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry.