Russian stock market to remain closed until Friday

Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said the country’s stock markets will resume trading on Friday, Russian news agencies reported, following a suspension imposed to prevent a meltdown.

"The decision was taken today... to resume trading on Russian stock markets from tomorrow," Kudrin said on Thursday at an economic policy meeting with President Dmitry Medvedev.

Medvedev also ordered the government to support Russia's financial system on Thursday, adding that it was the "most important priority".

"There is no more important task for Russian authorities than supporting the financial system... This is the most important priority at the moment," Medvedev told ministers at a televised meeting.

Government officials are struggling to keep the crisis now battering Russia’s economy from turning into a repeat of the 1998 meltdown.

The stock markets were suspended for an hour on Tuesday and remained closed for most of the day on Wednesday after being shut down by the financial markets authority to prevent a meltdown and allow time for a government rescue plan.

The MICEX and RTS exchanges plummeted to the lowest points in nearly three years on Wednesday.

Officials earlier pledged to inject $44 billion into the market to fight collapsing investor confidence and the central bank said it was slashing a range of reserve requirements for banks by four percent.

In a statement, the exchange called the situation in Russian markets on Wednesday "extraordinary".

The RTS has now lost 57 percent since hitting an all-time high in May, a slump analysts put down to a mix of falling energy prices, global market turmoil and political issues including worries over the war with Georgia.

Analysts say officials are afraid of panic if some Russian banks collapse.