New Delhi, July 17 -- Russia's main equity benchmark fell below 2,000 points on Thursday evening for the first time since October 2022, returning the index to territory last visited when the first wave of Western financial sanctions was reordering Russian asset markets and the Kremlin had just announced a partial military mobilisation.

00 Moscow time, according to Moscow Exchange trading data. The 2,000-point level is a reference that markets had not breached for more than three years. Its crossing on Thursday extended a downward trend that has erased roughly 17 percent of the index's value over the past month and approximately a quarter over the past year.

No official statement from the Moscow Exchange or the Bank of Russia accompanied...