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The Russian rouble has crashed more than 40% to a new record low against the dollar, oil prices have jumped as much as $7 a barrel and gold prices have gained 1%, as financial markets opened for trading for the first time since western nations announced wider economic sanctions on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.
The sanctions include blocking some Russian banks from the Swift international payments system, leading to expectations among investors of a run on the Russian currency as people scramble to swap their roubles for dollars and other denominations.
The Russian central bank was quick to respond and hiked its key interest rate to 20% from 9.5% this morning to stem the slide in the rouble, which will lead to higher inflation. Russia has also ordered companies to sell 80% of their foreign currency…
