Foreign capital is returning: non-residents have become net buyers of Russian stocks for the first time in years.
Non-resident investors from friendly jurisdictions in July, for the first time in a long period, became net buyers of Russian stocks. Their net purchases reached 15.3 billion rubles — the highest figure since November 2020, according to the latest financial market risks review from the Bank of Russia.
Until this point, foreign participants had consistently been net sellers, so the shift in the direction of capital flows is a landmark event for the entire market. The term "net" here reflects the net amount: the volume of securities purchased minus assets sold.
Who bought and who sold securities
Retail investors became the largest net buyers in secondary exchange trading. Private individuals purchased securities worth 24.4 billion rubles, significantly outpacing all other participants in terms of net purchase volume.
The main sellers were non-credit financial institutions. They offloaded stocks worth 37.9 billion rubles — for this category of participants, such a sales volume was a record since 2020. Systemically important banks also actively reduced their positions: in July, they sold stocks worth 22.7 billion rubles, increasing supply in the market.
The regulator also recorded the overall trading backdrop. Volatility in most segments of the Russian market declined or remained at the previous month's level, the ruble continued to weaken, but already more slowly than before.
The dynamics of government debt were noted separately: OFZ yields moved in different directions — rising at the short end of the curve and falling at the long end.
Instrument returns: bitcoin out of competition
The inflow of private money into the stock market coincided with high retail activity, which became the main driving force of demand throughout the month.
Notably, the same Central Bank dataset provides total returns for instruments in July. The absolute leader was the cryptocurrency bitcoin (BTC) — 10.1%, which exceeded the figures of any Russian sector.
Among Russian market industries, the strongest growth was seen in chemical production (7.9%), transportation (5.5%), construction (4.9%), and electric power (4.0%). Retail (3.6%) and currency deposits also showed good results — ranging from 2.6% for euros to 3.1% for yuan.
In the middle of the list were corporate bonds, the IT sector (2.2%), and OFZs (2.0%), while gold brought 1.5%. Below that were banks and finance (1.7%), ruble money market funds (1.2%), and ruble deposits (1.1%).
Three instruments ended the month the worst. Substitution bonds lost 0.9%, the Moscow Exchange index fell by 1.2%, and the metals and mining segment became the obvious outsider with a result of minus 6.1%.
My comment: The return of non-residents as buyers is a signal of gradual adaptation of foreign capital to new conditions, but this trend should not be overestimated. For now, volumes are far from pre-crisis levels, and the structural bias toward retail remains a key characteristic of the market. Investors should watch whether the inflow of foreign money can become sustainable rather than a one-off spike.