The ruble tumbled to a record for a second day, prompting speculation Russia's central bank intervened to slow the rout as weaker oil prices worsen the outlook for an economy verging on recession. Government bonds slid.

The currency lost as much as 2.7 percent, to 57.9860, leading the central bank to buy rubles, according to OAO Bank Otkritie and BCS Financial Group. It traded down 1.7 percent at 57.4205 by 4:54 p.m. in Moscow as Brent oil's drop below US$63 a barrel outweighed yesterday's 100 basis point interest-rate increase. Ten-year government bond yields jumped 48 basis points to 12.94 percent.

Russia's currency is on course for its worst year since the nation's 1998 default after getting battered as sanctions over the conflict in Ukraine blocked companies from Western debt markets and oil dropped into a bear market. Five interest-rate increases by the central bank failed to alter the ruble's course, while choking economic growth as inflation accelerates to a three-year high.