By William Mauldin

Russia's Micex Index dropped for a fourth day and the Micex Stock Exchange halted trading for an hour as crude oil fell to near a 21-month low.

OAO Rosneft and OAO Lukoil, Russia's biggest oil producer, led the slump with declines of more than 6 percent each. PIK Group, a Moscow-focused apartment builder, tumbled the most ever in London on concern it won't be able to repay debt.

The 30-stock Micex sank 6.5 percent to 553.88 at 3:24 p.m., when trading on the Micex resumed after a one-hour halt, the 30th suspension since early September. The dollar-denominated RTS Index, dominated by oil and gas producers, fell 5.3 percent to 609.82.

Crude in New York fell to $55.86 a barrel as Japan entered a recession and China's largest crude producer said demand has declined ``sharply.'' Russia's Urals blend of crude sank to $48.32 a barrel, the lowest since January 2007.

``Oil falling below $50 is a very worrying sign for the Russian budget,'' said Alexander Zakharov, co-head of equities at Moscow-based Metropol. ``The G-20 meeting provided only intentions and no drastic solutions to the current slump in the world economies.''

The leaders of the world's 20 biggest developed and emerging economies put banks and investors on notice they will need to keep more capital and reveal more about their holdings in a Nov. 15 meeting in Washington.

Rosneft, Russia's biggest oil producer, fell 6.19 rubles, or 6.7 percent, to 86.04 rubles on the Micex Stock Exchange. Lukoil dropped 65.23 rubles, or 7.8 percent, to 786 rubles. OAO Gazprom, the world's biggest natural-gas producer, dropped 6.4 percent to 100.8 rubles.

PIK Plunges

OAO Sberbank, the biggest holder of ruble deposits, sank 2.13 rubles, or 8.4 percent, to 23.30 rubles. The ruble weakened against the central bank's dollar-euro basket as oil declined.

PIK Group dropped 43 percent to $1 in London, its biggest decline since it listed on the London Stock Exchange. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut its recommendation on PIK to ``underweight'' from ``overweight,'' saying there is a ``serious risk that the company may not meet some of its debt obligations.''

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