Moscow stock markets open higher after Monday's plunge

MOSCOW - Agence France-Presse

A man looks on next to the WIG30 index at Warsaw Stock Exchange (GPW) building in Warsaw March 3, 2014. REUTERS Photo

Moscow's stock markets opened more than three percent higher on Tuesday after plunging over 10 percent the day before in reaction to Russia's military intervention into Ukraine.
     
By around 0620 GMT, Moscow's MICEX bourse had risen by 3.20 percent while the other main Russian market, the RTS, had risen by 3.30 percent. In the opening minutes they had risen by more than four percent.
      
The markets regained some ground after their collapse on Monday when the MICEX closed down 10.79 percent and the RTS closed down 12.01 percent.
      
The ruble also went up slightly in value after hitting record low rates against the euro and dollar on Monday.
      
At around 0605 GMT, the euro was worth 49.90 rubles and the dollar was worth 36.29 rubles.
      
On Monday, Russia's central bank hiked its main interest rate by 150 basis points in an emergency move to limit the losses for the ruble.
      
Stocks that had fallen sharply on Monday also went up early Tuesday, with the Russian energy giant Gazprom's shares up 3.60 percent.
      
President Vladimir Putin on Saturday won approval from Russia's upper house of parliament to send troops into Ukraine due to the stand-off in Crimea following the ousting of pro-Moscow president Viktor Yanukovych.
      
But economists warned the move risks creating a litany of further troubles for the Russian economy, which is already battling chronically slow growth.