OREANDA-NEWS. Bidding on the Moscow Exchange on Monday opened in the “red zone” amid cheaper oil and the decision of the US Federal Reserve System (FRS) to practically zero the rate, according to the auction.

At 12:30 Moscow time, the Mosbirzhi index is reduced by 3.24%, to 2241.4 points. RTS is down 5.08% to 941.627 points. As of noon, the dollar exchange rate reached 75 rubles (an increase of 3.31%), the euro exceeded 84 rubles, up 4.11%. Oil prices, which crashed by almost 30% last week, continue to fall on Monday. The cost of the May Brent futures on the London ICE is reduced by 7.06%, to $ 31.46 per barrel.

According to analysts, the US FRS failed to inspire confidence in investors - on the contrary, such harsh measures, similar to which have not been taken since the 2008 crisis, scared the markets. On Monday night, the regulator, whose management was to meet on March 17-18, lowered the rate immediately by 100 basis points, to 0-0.25%, and announced the launch of a quantitative easing program by $ 700 billion. This decrease was the second since the beginning of the month - At an emergency meeting on March 3, the Fed has already lowered the rate by 50 basis points.