On Thursday crashed to an all-time low by as much as 45%. It is also being reported that the ruble hit a record low against the dollar on Thursday.
Early Thursday morning, Russian troops had launched an attack on Ukraine, triggering “full scale” sanctions aimed at Russia. Military infrastructure across Ukraine as well as several airports were targeted in a long-awaited invasion that came right after Putin warned of bloodshed unless Ukrainian forces lay down their arms.
Russia’s oil-dependent economy is expected to crash even further as sanctions from all corners start to roll in.
Reports state that the Moscow stock exchange had suspended trading earlier on Thursday but when dealing resumed, stocks went into free-fall.
The MOEX index plunged as much as 45% before rebounding to trade down 33%, while the RTS index — which is denominated in dollars — was down 38% at 8:25 a.m. ET. The crash wiped about $70 billion off the value of Russia’s biggest companies including banks and oil companies.
Shares in Sberbank (SBRCY) — Russia’s largest lender —lost 57% of their value. Rosneft, in which BP (BP) owns a 19.75% stake, plunged as much as 58%, before steadying a little. BP shares dropped 3% in London. Gazprom (GZPFY), the giant gas company behind the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, was down 40%.
