The equity and derivatives markets of the Moscow Exchange will not operate on December 31, 2026 — the venue will maintain its standard schedule on the remaining business days of the month. The last trading day of the year on these markets will be December 30.
For investors looking to lock in their annual results or rebalance their portfolios ahead of the calendar year-end, this means one thing: all transactions must be completed in the preceding sessions. The main risk for private market participants — reacting to news on the last day of the year — will only become possible after the holidays, while the remaining business days of December will follow the usual schedule and trades can be planned in advance.
Key schedule changes
The exchange has also cancelled additional weekend trading sessions on November 28 and 29. For private investors who trade on Saturdays and Sundays, this means a pause until Monday, November 30.
Each trading day represents commission income for the venue itself, the size of which depends on turnover. The total trading volume on the Moscow Exchange markets in October amounted to 212.9 trillion rubles.
These revenues are particularly important against the backdrop of deteriorating financial results at the venue. The Moscow Exchange's net profit under RAS for the nine months of 2026 declined by 26.8% year-on-year to 61.61 billion rubles, and in the third quarter — by 5.5% to 2.22 billion rubles.
The crypto vector
December is important for the exchange for another reason as well: starting December 1, the venue plans to launch trading in BTC, ETH and USDT. This will be Russia's first organized digital currency market. Unqualified investors will be able to buy cryptocurrency only after testing, through a single broker, and in an amount up to 300,000 rubles per year. The trading schedule for digital currencies will coincide with the equity market schedule, so December 31 will apparently be a day off for crypto transactions as well.
Cryptalist analysis: The cancellation of trading on December 31 reduces liquidity in the final sessions of the year and increases the risk of heightened volatility when closing positions on December 30. For the emerging crypto market of the Moscow Exchange, synchronization with the equity schedule means the absence of round-the-clock trading — an important structural limitation that institutional participants will take into account when evaluating the new instrument.