Moscow Exchange Index Falls 10%, Russia Trading System Index Loses 12.6% After Oil Prices Slump

The day before, crude oil prices slumped by over 30 percent in the biggest fall since the 1991 Gulf War, after the OPEC+ alliance failed to agree on a deal to introduce new production cuts last week.

Moscow Exchange Index fell 10%, while Russia Trading System Index lost 12.6% early on Tuesday following the biggest slump in oil prices nearly in three decades.

Meanwhile, shares of Russia's major companies and banks are falling. As of early Tuesday, Rosneft shares are plunging by 12.2 percent, Gazprom shares are decreasing by 12.8 percent, Lukoil shares are seeing a 14 percent decrease, Nornikel shares are falling by 4.3 percent, and Alrosa shares are decreasing by 8.5 percent, while Sberbank shares are plunging by 13.1 percent, and VTB Bank shares are dropping by 11.7 percent.

Besides the sharp fall in Russia's main indexes, the Russian ruble has also felt a hard blow as the dollar exchange rate has increased by 3.6 rubles to 72.2 rubles, while the euro exchange rate has increased by 4.4 rubles to 81.9 rubles as of 10.06 a.m. Moscow time (07:06 GMT).

OPEC has had production cutting pacts since 2016 with non-member allies led by Russia. The wider alliance, known as OPEC+, met in Vienna last Friday to discuss production cuts. After the talks, OPEC+ issued a statement saying it would continue consultations to stabilise the oil market, without mentioning any deeper cuts.