Russian equities rallied strongly at the start of trading on November 21 after details of the US 28-point peace plan were released the previous evening.

Investor sentiment got a fillip as a possible deal is on the cards. The White House is reportedly pushing for Kyiv to accept the plan before the Thanksgiving holiday on November 27 and anticipates closing the deal in early December.

Bankova has been polite, but restrained in its response and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is widely expected to reject the deal and come back with a counteroffer as the terms include various no-go conditions, including ceding the Donbas to Russia.

Nevertheless, the restart of peace talks, which were dead in the water after the failure of a Budapest trilateral meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin, US President Donald Trump and Zelenskiy, triggered gains across the board on the Moscow Exchange (MOEX).

The MOEX Russia Index rose 2.4% at the opening bell to reach 2,691 points, with most blue-chip stocks advancing between 3% and 5%, the Moscow Times reports. That is a significant gain, but still below the post war high of over 3,500 the index reached last year. As bne IntelliNews reported, Russia’s stock market has started to come back to life fuelled by domestic investment and a flow of IPOs.

Just this week, Russian state mortgage and housing agency Dom.RF held a widely anticipated IPO on MOEX to placing 10.1% of its shares at the maximum guidance of RUB1,750 per share and raising a total of RUB31.7bn giving the firm a valuation of RUB315bn ($4bn), RBC reported. Demand for Dom.RF’s IPO exceeded RUB80bn–RUB125bn, 4–5x the offer. Over 40 institutional and 50,000 retail investors submitted bids.

Energy firms and state-backed corporations led this rally, as shares in Tatneft and Aeroflot gained around 4%, while Gazprom, Sberbank and Lukoil each added 3%.

The energy stocks, and Lukoil in particular, have been helped by the appearance of a new peace plan as Trump’s new oil sanctions are due to come into force on November 21, but he has a long history of delaying the implementation of sanctions if fresh talks with the White House start.

The rebound began late November 20 after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy signalled openness to discussions with the US and Europe over the peace proposal.

“I am ready for honest work with our partners for a dignified peace,” Zelenskiy said, while emphasising that any settlement must respect Ukraine’s sovereignty, suggesting strongly that a final agreement is still far off.

One of the key items on the list is sanctions relief for Russia if the war ends. A ceasefire would also bring the Russian economy a large peace dividend by taking the military spending pressure off the budget and bringing down still painfully high inflation.

Investment professionals said that the MOEX index could rise back towards its previous highs and reach 3,400 points if negotiations move forward successfully.