Russia to lift short-selling ban from June 1

(Reuters) -Russia's central bank will from June 1 lift a ban on short selling of securities and on buying of foreign currencies using credit leveraging, in moves to increase market liquidity as volatility has subsided, it said on Friday.

Russia restricted trading in Russian assets in March, saying it wanted to protect investors' rights and ensure decisions were not driven by political pressure, after Moscow sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24.

The short-selling ban led to a drop in turnover on the Moscow Exchange to 88 trillion roubles ($1.49 trillion) in April from 95.7 trillion roubles in the same month of 2021, data showed on Friday.

The central bank said it would still limit the size of credit leveraging that a brokerage can offer its clients until the end of this year.

The rouble has rallied to its strongest levels in years against the euro and dollar, which analysts attributed to EU countries preparing to pay Russia for gas and to capital controls imposed by Moscow.

Russia is expected to ease those controls further.

The central bank has said a ban on the sale of securities by non-residents helped to avoid extreme market volatility that could have caused mass defaults through a domino effect.

Stock market lobby NAUFOR said on Thursday non-residents should be able to gradually divest Russian assets so the securities they own can return to the market.

($1 = 59.0000 roubles)

(Reporting by Reuters; editing by John Stonestreet)