Russia's leading stock market has posted its worst-ever one-day fall as shares shed almost a fifth of their value on worries about exposure to a worsening worldwide financial crisis.
The benchmark index on the dollar-denominated RTS stock exchange plummeted 19.10 per cent to close at 866.39 points, 65 per cent down from an all-time high posted in May this year.
"As an emerging market and major exporter of natural resources, Russia is in the centre of the storm," said Stephen Dashevsky, head of research at Moscow-based investment house UniCredit Aton.
"What we are seeing now is clearly exaggerated. Companies are trading at low single-digit multiples of next years earnings," he said, referring to a valuation method for stocks.
Among the worst losers was Russian gas behemoth Gazprom, down 24.42 per cent at $5.20, number-two oil firm Lukoil, 24.16 per cent lower at $40.50 and top mobile operator MTS down 21.21 per cent $6.50.
The record lows came despite the enforcement by regulators of two trading suspensions on the RTS and three stoppages for the ruble-denominated MICEX stock exchange, which ended down 18.66 per cent at 752.00.
Analysts said the freefall was due to concerns that bailouts in the United States and Europe were yet to show signs of freeing up financing from banks.
"We can't see any silver lining," Alexei Trunyaev, another Moscow-based market analyst, said in a note.
Earlier in Asia, stock exchanges suffered a fresh mauling, with Tokyo sinking to a four-year low on growing doubts about whether a Wall Street bailout package can stem the global financial crisis.
