The main events by the morning: April 8

• Norilsk Nickel completed the stock split – the division was according to the scheme: 1:100. Now one share of Nornickel costs as half of the share of Sber – 155 rubles. At the start of trading, papers are growing by more than 3%. 

• A new jump in trade turnover between Russia and China is unlikely. According to Alexey Dakhnovsky, the trade representative of the Russian Federation in China, the growth rate of trade with Russia has stabilized at an average level after the previous jump caused by the saturation of empty market segments. 

• The trade war between the United States and China in the chip market continues. The United States significantly reduced shipments of semiconductor manufacturing equipment to China to the lowest level in several years – $226 million in February. Previously, shipments averaged $500 million per month. Shipments of the chips themselves also declined to $484 million in February from $513 million in January.

• Russian investors are actively increasing investments in mutual funds. According to analysts, March was the best month since the beginning of the year for collective investments. The increase in funds in mutual funds amounted to 16.7 billion rubles. This rise is primarily due to an increase in demand for money market funds, interest in which has been declining in the previous two months.

• Apple's revenue in Russia continues to decline. According to the Federal Tax Service, in 2023, the company's revenue in the Russian Federation fell 23 times to 3.6 billion rubles, compared with 85 billion rubles in 2022. However, the net loss decreased from 6.5 billion to 1 billion rubles. After the sanctions were imposed, the proceeds from the sale of Apple products went to retailers bringing goods through parallel imports. In fact, the company continues to earn money in Russia, but it does so through intermediaries.

• India can surpass China in terms of global economic growth. According to Bloomberg, the country is experiencing a real boom in foreign investment, and the government is actively concluding new trade agreements.