Moscow Exchange down for over an hour after technical problems

Russian financial markets have been paralyzed for more than an hour after trading on the Moscow Exchange was suspended due to technical problems.

The exchange, which is the center of Russian financial trading, said it encountered a "technical failure" in its data center at around 3 p.m. local time Tuesday.

It was still offline as of 4.15 p.m., with the exchange saying in a statement that it was "preparing to resume trading using backup systems." No time was given for trading to resume.

The stoppage covers trading in equity, bonds, foreign exchange, derivatives and the money markets.