Index giant S&P Dow Jones Indices said Friday it is removing all stocks listed and domiciled in Russia from its benchmarks in light of the country’s invasion of Ukraine, further isolating the nation from the global economy. Effective before the opening next Wednesday, the removal also affects Russian American depositary receipts (ADRs), S&P Dow Jones Indices said. The keeper of the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 also said it would declassify Russia as an emerging market and categorize it as a standalone group. The move came as Russian forces attacked Europe’s largest nuclear power plant in Ukraine early Friday morning, causing a fire to break out at an adjacent training facility. The U.S. Embassy in Kyiv called the attack a war crime.
Earlier Friday, the NYSE halted trading in three Russian ETFs — Franklin FTSE Russia ETF (FLRU), iShares MSCI Russia ETF (ERUS), and Direxion Daily Russia Bull 2X Shares (RUSL). The exchange cited “regulatory concerns” for these halts. Since the geopolitical tensions escalated, exchange-traded funds tracking Russian stocks have been in a tailspin. The iShares MSCI Russia ETF tumbled 33.4% for its worst day Tuesday since the fund’s inception in 2010, and after losing 27.9% on Monday. Meanwhile, the VanEck Russia ETF shares ended February down 54.9%, closing out its worst month ever.