The session in Moscow starts with -30%, a record low for the ruble against the euro-dollar (upd)

LAST UPDATE 09:51

The ruble fell to a new record low against the dollar as local trade stalled after Russian forces attacked Ukraine, and the US president promised “severe” sanctions.

The ruble approached 90 against the dollar in interbank transactions and 100 against the euro.

Russian stock indexes are falling at the start of late trading on Thursday, following the start of Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine.

The Russian Stock Exchange MOEX index fell more than 28% in the first 30 minutes of trading.

The drop comes amid concerns about the – as promised – unprecedented sanctions by Western governments in response to the Russian invasion.

This is the biggest drop the index has recorded since the beginning of the pandemic, two years ago.

The start of trading was temporarily delayed, to allow the central bank of Russia to announce an emergency package of measures, intervening in foreign exchange markets and increasing liquidity in banks.

“In order to stabilize the stock market situation, the Bank of Russia has decided to start intervening in the foreign exchange market, and to conduct operations today to provide additional liquidity to the banking sector,” it said in a statement.

It is committed to using “all the necessary tools” to deal with variability.

The share of Sberbank, the largest Russian bank and a possible target for sanctions, is falling more than 28%.

The biggest drop, by 35%, is recorded by the second largest bank, VTB.

The Moscow Stock Exchange index has lost about a third of its value since October, with both the ruble and the Ukrainian hryvnia hitting the worst performance among currencies in the world.