On the coming Sunday, the first round of Russia’s presidential election will take place. Incumbent Vladimir Putin is well ahead in the polls, with approval ratings consistently well above 40 per cent, but he is not leaving anything to chance with an active campaign. From a low base in the second quarter of 2017, the Moscow Exchange’s index of its 50 most liquid shares has rallied steadily in a series of neat steps. Unlike other European bourses, February’s upset has been minimal and it is currently trading only fractionally below the previous week’s record high. Support from the moving averages, the trend channel and the Ichimoku cloud will hopefully keep things on track to go successively higher.
