OREANDA-NEWS  The decision of the Board of Directors of the Bank of Russia to reduce the key rate from 17 to 16.5 percent per annum failed to support the Russian stock market. After a momentary rise, the Moscow Exchange index fell back to a minimum over the past week, according to the site's data.

The indicator dropped to 2,532 points, which is close to the minimum since the beginning of the year. Thus, the easing of monetary policy seemed insufficient to investors.

The current meeting was the penultimate one before the end of the year. The next time the board of directors will meet to make a decision on the rate is almost two months later — on December 19.

Earlier this week, shares of Russian companies experienced several cycles of decline due to geopolitics. At first it became clear that the meeting of the presidents of Russia and the United States, Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump, in Budapest was postponed, and then the head of the White House canceled it altogether, while imposing sanctions against Russian oil companies.

At the same time, the European Union approved the 19th package of sanctions, aimed mainly at Russia's energy exports, as well as imposing new restrictions on the financial sector. As a result, the Moscow Exchange index has lost more than 200 percentage points since the beginning of the week.