MOSCOW, February 28 (RIA Novosti) - The Russian Trading System (RTS) index, which is the benchmark index of Russia's stock market, fell Wednesday 2.94% to 1850.09 points, while the MICEX index fell 4.14% to 1682.12 points.
Most Russian blue chips fell 2-3%.
Main European indexes fell about 3 percent and stock markets across Asia tumbled amid investor fears about possible slowdowns in the Chinese and U.S. economies.
Shares in Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, India, Australia, Indonesia and the Philippines all plunged more than 3 percent in morning trading following overnight losses on Wall Street.
Investors were also unsettled by comments from former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, who said a recession in the U.S. was "possible" later this year.
Boris Alyoshin, head of Russia's Federal Industry Agency, said that the fall could have a negative effect on the Russian economy.
"Insofar as Russian money is invested in international [financial] markets, there could be an impact," he said.
