The discovery of a new coronavirus strain, deemed the "worst ever" by experts, has sent Russian financial markets tumbling on a day of worldwide market volatility.
By Friday midday in Moscow trade, the ruble had lost 2% against major currencies, hitting a seven-month low of 75.7 against the dollar and 85.2 against the euro.
The sell-off comes at the end of a gruelling week for Russian markets, which began with "black Monday," a day of huge losses sparked by concerns of armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
Over the last four weeks, Russia's stock market has dropped 16 percent.
Several nations have imposed travel restrictions to South
Africa and other African countries, where the novel coronavirus strain known as
"Nu" was initially found.
According to scientists, the new variety contains more mutations on the virus' protein spike than even the highly transmissible Delta form, raising concerns that it would be able to dodge immunizations and spread the pandemic farther.
The dollar-denominated RTS index, Russia's primary stock market, fell more than 4% in the early hours of trade Friday as investors assessed the news and its possible impact on the global economy. Russia's stock market fell in lockstep with other major markets, with the main stock indices in London and Frankfurt also falling by more than 3%. Traders in the United States are also anticipating significant losses when markets open later Friday.
Commodity businesses were the biggest losers in Russia, down
5% following a drop in the price of oil, as traders worry further travel
restrictions and lockdowns are on the way.
Following a total shutdown of Russia's borders at the onset of the coronavirus epidemic last year, South Africa is on Russia's list of nations with whom air travel has been reopened.
According to the state-run TASS news agency, the Russian Embassy in South Africa stated Friday that it was monitoring the situation but did not advise Russians to avoid the country.
The Kremlin has previously halted travel to virus hotspots
and regions where new varieties have been detected, such as prohibiting flights
to the United Kingdom when the Alpha strain was discovered last December.