Russian Stocks Slump 45%, Wipes Out $250 Billion In Value

Russian assets nosedived as military attacks across Ukraine prompted emergency central bank action and investors braced for the toughest round of Western sanctions yet, wiping out as much as $259 billion in stock-market value.

Russian assets nosedived as military attacks across Ukraine prompted emergency central bank action and investors braced for the toughest round of Western sanctions yet, wiping out as much as $259 billion in stock-market value.

The ruble sank to a record low, the cost of insuring Russian debt against default soared to the highest since 2009, and stocks collapsed as much as 45% -- their biggest-ever retreat. The Bank of Russia said it will intervene in the foreign exchange market for the first time in years and take measures to tame volatility in financial markets.  

The military attack on Ukraine cast a shadow over global markets and sparked a fresh bout of risk aversion. Russian assets took the main blow after President Vladimir Putin ordered an operation to “demilitarize” Russia's neighbor, prompting international condemnation and a U.S. threat of further “severe sanctions” on Moscow.

“The ball is now on the West's side, we have to see how far sanctions go -- whether Russia will be kept in the global financial system” said Viktor Szabo, an investor at Aberdeen Asset Management Plc. in London