Russian market rout wipes $250b in value

Bloomberg

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 more than $250 billion in stock market value.
The ruble sank to a record low and stocks collapsed 45% — their biggest-ever retreat. Russian Eurobonds plummeted, pushing some into distressed territory. 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 attack on Ukraine cast a pall over global markets and sparked another bout of global risk aversion. Russian assets took the main blow after President Vladimir Putin ordered an operation to “demilitarise” the country, prompting international condemnation and a US threat of further “severe sanctions” on Moscow. “Significant overshooting is possible, and the dollar-ruble at 100 certainly is well in range,” said Commerzbank AG strategist Ulrich Leuchtmann. “I don’t think that interventions will be the main instrument of choice. They can only prevent extreme overshooting. Rate hikes have to follow soon.”
The Russian central bank made no mention of raising interest rates, but said it will provide additional liquidity to banks by offering $11.5 billion in an overnight repo auction. Policy makers have increased the benchmark rate by 525 basis points in the past 12 months to tame inflation.