Andrew Wilkinson: Bloomberg

Bloomberg: Traders have scaled back bets on declines in the Market Vectors Russia RSX:US exchange-traded fund to 5 percent of outstanding shares from a record-high RSX:US 21 percent on March 3. Thats the largest drop for a comparable period since June, according to data compiled by Bloomberg and Markit, according to Business Week. Short-sellers are throwing in the towel, Andrew Wilkinson, the chief market analyst at Interactive Brokers LLC, said in an e-mail on April 3. The rebound in Russian stocks is not only luring buyers back to Moscow, but also leading short sellers to retire their borrowed stock and President Vladimir Putins pledge not to expand beyond the Crimea peninsula in Ukraine is driving short sellers out of the Russian stock market. As short sellers retreat, the market is rebounding, with the Bloomberg Index of Russias most-traded stocks in New York posting the longest stretch of weekly gains since October. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said at the end of last month that theres no intention to go beyond Crimea, fueling speculation that tensions with the U.S. and the EU are abating. Putin told lawmakers in Moscow on March 18 that Russia isnt about to occupy Eastern Ukraine. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.