Fears of a war in Ukraine wiped a 10th off the value of Moscow’s stock exchange and sent the rouble tumbling to an all-time low as the west scrambled to counter Russia’s creeping invasion of Crimea.

Investors fled Russian assets, with stocks in Moscow falling by 10.8 per cent, their biggest daily fall since the 2008 financial crisis. Global markets also reacted to the prospect of a conflict and there was a jump in the price of commodities that are heavily dependent on Russia and Ukraine, such as wheat, oil and European natural gas.

The rouble, already one of the worse performing currencies, fell nearly 3 per cent to a record low of Rbs36.90 against the dollar before the central bank surprised the market by raising rates and spending at least $7bn propping up the rouble.