Russia’s stock market took a tumble after the Kremlin recognised the independence of the breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, while European bourses recovered in late trade tracking Wall Street higher.

In Moscow, the dollar-denominated RTS index lost 4.2 per cent to 1,579.12, its lowest since 2006, which brought its losses since the start of the war in Georgia to almost 15 per cent.