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Russian Stock Market Falls Over Looming Ukraine Crisis

Russia's stock market fell and the ruble weakened in early trading after tension escalated in Ukraine over the weekend.

On Monday morning the ruble-denominated MICEX index was down 1.2 percent to 1,346 points, while the dollar-denominated RTS index fell 1.9 percent to 1,178 points.

"The escalation sharply increases risks of an all-out civil war in Ukraine," said Bank of America Merrill Lynch analysts in a research note. "Even though it is still not our baseline scenario, the entire development is clearly negative for the market (and raises) renewed fears of another wave of sanctions from the West."

The ruble was 1 percent weaker at 36 against the dollar and 0.7 percent weaker at 49.83 against the euro.

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