Falls halt Russian market trading

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Russia's two leading stock exchanges were forced to close for several hours on Tuesday, one day after suffering massive falls in value.

Trading on the RTS and Micex bourses was postponed by the country's financial regulator after stocks lost nearly 20% of their value on Monday.

Soon after reopening, the RTS index rose by 0.58% while Micex gained 2.16%.

Meanwhile, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev called for urgent action to deal with the global financial crisis.

In a video clip posted on his website kremlin.ru, Mr Medvedev said: "International political issues and the crisis in the world financial system demand concerted and urgent actions."

"It's absolutely clear that the time has come for new solutions."

He said he would raise the issue at an international conference in France on 8 October.

Monday's falls on the dollar-denominated Russian Trading System (RTS) index and the rouble-denominated Micex (Moscow Interbank Currency Exchange) were the steepest declines for a market that was booming until recently.

Since May, the RTS index has dropped more than 60%.