US sanctions start biting Russian economy

MOSCOW, Apr 09 (Reuters): Russia's ruble experienced its biggest one-day fall for over two years on Monday and stocks in major Russian companies also slid, as investors reacted to a new round of US sanctions targeting some of Russia's biggest tycoons.
The sanctions, announced on Friday, target officials and business people around President Vladimir Putin in an aggressive response to alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 US election.
The impact of the new sanctions could threaten Russia's fragile economic recovery, which was only just beginning to take hold after the first major wave of sanctions against Russia, introduced in response to Moscow's annexation of Crimea in 2014.
Russia's currency plunged to its lowest level since November last year, trading at 60.24 to the dollar. That was its biggest fall in a single day since January 2016.
On equities markets, Russian aluminum tycoon Oleg Deripaska saw the share price of one of his companies halve and another drop 34 per cent after he joined six other so-called "oligarchs" sanctioned together with their businesses.
The dollar-denominated RTS index was down more than 11 per cent, and the rouble-based MOEX Russian index fell by more than 9.0 per cent, their lowest levels since September and November respectively.