Russian rouble hits new low, stocks down at market opening

MOSCOW: The Russian rouble fell 0.55 percent in early trade on Friday, hitting a new historical low against the dollar, and the country's stock market indexes also dropped, following weaker oil prices.

At 0710 GMT, the rouble was around 0.66 percent weaker against the dollar at 56.82 and down 0.83 percent to trade at 70.50 versus the euro.

The RTS index fell more than 4 percent to 791 points and the MICEX index was 1.64 off at 1,431 points.