The Russian government was facing one of the biggest tests of its market economy after it was forced to close its two main stock exchanges to halt a market rout that has led to the steepest declines since the August 1998 crisis.

The two main bourses, the MICEX and RTS, said on Wednesday they were suspending stock trading until further notice from the state’s main financial regulator. On Thursday MICEX said it had restarted repo trading from 0700 GMT, while the RTS exchange was trading futures contracts for goods, currency, and interest rates.