This year's best performing stock market is…Russia

An economic crisis, a crash in oil prices and hefty sanctions for intervention in Ukraine – even with such a dire backdrop Russia's stock market has proven to be the world's best performer in early 2015.

The country's benchmark stock index has surged almost 27 percent in the year-to-date as investors dip their toes back into a market that suffered sharp losses at the end of last year.

The gains outpace a rise of about 2.8 percent in the S&P 500, the broadest measure of U.S. shares, and a 13 percent rally in the pan-European Euro Stoxx 600 Index.

"At some levels, Russia is extremely cheap so if you are ever going to invest in Russia, maybe now is the time," David Stubbs, a global market strategist at J.P. Morgan Asset Management, told CNBC Tuesday.

However, he warned that a "big risk" remained: the escalation of tensions between Russia and neighbouring Ukraine, which has strained the country's relations with the U.S. and Europe .... http://www.cnbc.com