Russian stocks crash 33% and ruble plunges to record low
By Mark Thompson and Chris Liakos,
CNN Business
Updated 12:26 PM ET, Thu February 24, 2022
London/Paris (CNN Business)Russian stocks crashed and the ruble hit a record low against the dollar on Thursday after Russian troops launched
an attack on Ukraine.
The invasion is likely to trigger a
new wave of "full scale" sanctions aimed at President Vladimir Putin's inner circle and Russia's
oil-dependent economy.
A broad offensive by Russian forces targeted military infrastructure across Ukraine as well as several airports. The assault began hours before dawn and quickly spread across central and eastern Ukraine as Russian forces attacked from three sides. Ukrainian officials said more than 40 soldiers and as many as 10 civilians had been killed, and the deputy interior minister reported "fierce fighting" at an airbase near the Ukrainian capital.
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 recovering slightly to close down 33%, while the RTS index — which is denominated in dollars — ended the day with losses of 39%. The crash wiped about $70 billion off the value of Russia's biggest companies.
Russian banks and oil companies were among the hardest hit in volatile trading, with shares in Sberbank (
SBRCY) — Russia's largest lender — losing 43% of their value. Rosneft, in which BP (
BP) owns a 19.75% stake, also shed 43%. BP shares dropped 4.6% in London. Gazprom (
GZPFY), the giant gas company behind the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, was down 35%.
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Russian stocks crash and ruble plunges to record low - CNN
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