MOSCOW, February 17 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's two main stock exchanges, MICEX and the RTS, opened lower on Tuesday following negative macroeconomic data published by the country's top statistics body.

As of 11:53 a.m. Moscow time (08:53 GMT), the ruble-denominated MICEX saw its index plunge 2.20% from Monday's close to 696.31 points. The biggest losses were extended by metals giant Norilsk Nickel (down 4.94%), state-controlled VTB Bank (2.94%) and independent crude producer LUKoil (2.44%).

As of the same time in Tuesday's trading, the dollar-denominated RTS fell 3.64% from Monday's close to 587.15 points, with Norilsk Nickel shares declining 8.47%, state-controlled Sberbank 5.71% and Gazprom 3.95%.

Russia's State Statistics Service reported on Monday that the country's industrial output had fallen by a massive 16% year-on-year in January 2009, dashing the government's hopes for a recovery later this year.