Russian ruble falls by 8 pct, breaks 70 to the dollar

The Russian currency on Tuesday accelerated its slide, falling by at least eight percent in half of a day and breaking the 70 ruble-to-dollar mark.

The slide to 73 rubles to the dollar and 90 to the euro came despite a drastic overnight emergency hike by the central bank of its key rate by 6.5 percentage points to 17 percent.