MOSCOW: Russian assets weakened at the opening on Tuesday, with analysts saying the death of Total Chief Executive Christophe de Margerie in an overnight plane crash in Moscow could sour the market mood.
At 0620 GMT, the dollar-denominated RTS index was down 1 percent to 1,046 points, while its rouble-based peer MICEX traded 0.9 percent lower at 1,364 points.
De Margerie was killed when a business jet collided with a snow plough during takeoff at Moscow's Vnukovo International Airport overnight, the company and airport officials said.
"Reactions to the tragic death of Total CEO Christophe de Margerie in Moscow late last night may dominate news flow," analysts at Sberbank Investment Research wrote in a note.
Novatek, in which Total is a shareholder and key partner in the Yamal liquefied natural gas project in the Arctic, was down 2.2 percent.
The rouble, which has been trading at all-time lows against both the dollar and the euro in recent weeks, weakened slightly at the opening.
The Russian currency was 0.06 percent weaker against the dollar at 41.06 and lost 0.14 percent to trade at 52.66 versus the euro.
That left the currency 0.11 percent weaker at 46.29 against the dollar-euro basket the central bank uses to gauge the rouble's nominal exchange rate.
Investors in the bond market will be awaiting news later in the day as to whether the Finance Ministry will hold its weekly treasury auction on Wednesday, after it cancelled the auction last week. An announcement that the auction will take place could bring some stability to recently volatile Russian assets.
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