Russian index drops 14%, market shut down until Friday

MOSCOW -- Russian news agencies say Moscow's MICEX stock exchange, where most of Russia's trading takes place, has shut until Friday after opening with steep losses.

The MICEX index dropped more than 14% in the first half-hour of trading Wednesday.

The RTS exchange, whose index is widely considered the benchmark of Russia's markets, fell around 7% in the first 30 minutes and suspended trading for one hour, the ITAR-Tass, Interfax and RIA-Novosti agencies reported.

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The exchanges suffered their worst-ever one-day losses Monday and ended Tuesday with minor losses, in a tepid response to President Dmitry Medvedev's announcement of new measures to improve liquidity in the banking system.