Whisper it quietly, but Russia could be facing a full-blown currency crisis.
Rumours of Russian central bank intervention briefly calmed the rouble somewhat, but the currency is now careening lower again, falling almost 8 per cent – the most since its 1998 financial crisis - to a new low of 63.667 versus the dollar.
That makes it the worst of all 174 currencies tracked by Bloomberg this year, finally pipping the Ukrainian hryvnia today with a total 48.2 per cent slump in 2014.
Moscow's financial markets have been pounded by a wave of selling today, bond yields soaring and the stock market sliding.
In US dollar terms the Micex index has now lost over 26 per cent this month - already making it the worst month for the Moscow stock market since October 2008 (see second chart below).
But the rouble remains ground zero for the rout.
The turmoil sent the rouble to a low of 61.46 versus the dollar at around 1pm in London, before talk that the Russian central bank was intervening steadied the currency at just over 60 to the greenback. But as the trading day went on the rouble resumed its tumble, and is now at 63.44.
Analysts are now worried the slide is becoming uncontrollable and could lead to more systemic financial problems in the Russian economy, due to the heavy foreign borrowing of Russian companies and possibility that locals lose faith in the currency.
Bernd Berg, a strategist SocGen, said that there was a danger that the rouble's rout becomes a complete collapse to 70 per US dollar unless the central bank steps in forcefully in the coming days.
The third chart below shows the one-day moves since 2000. You have to go back to 1997-98 to see movements this sharp.
