Japan’s currency may face continued downward pressure if policymakers move too slowly on interest rate hikes, according to the head of the Asian Development Bank . Rate Gap with US Driving Yen Weakness ADB President Masato Kanda highlighted that the wide interest rate differential between Japan and the US remains the key driver behind yen weakness. Investors continue to favour the US dollar due to higher yields The Bank of Japan risks being seen as “behind the curve” on inflation As a result, the yen struggles to strengthen even when global risk sentiment improves . BOJ’s Slow Response Raises Market Concerns Despite inflation hovering around target levels for years, the BOJ has maintained a cautious policy stance to avoid damaging Japan’s fragile economic recovery. However, markets may react negatively if: The BOJ delays rate hikes further Investors lose confidence in Japan’s poli...
FBM KLCI continued to inch slightly higher, as the market closed at 1,768.41 points, up by 3.97 points.
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| Market closed slightly higher |
This happened despite the fact that the oil prices continued to remain sluggish while the ringgit remains weak. Among the top gainers are Asia File Corporation Bhd, Ibraco Bhd and Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd (KLK). On the other hand, Dutch Lady Milk Industries Bhd, Syarikat Takaful Malaysia Bhd and AirAsia were the top decliners.
As expected, AirAsia was also the top active counter today as the AirAsia Flight QZ8510 went missing.
Many analysts are looking at AirAsia and expect to see some price weakness with the latest news.
The oil prices remained sluggish although it appeared to have stabilize while the ringgit seems to have near its bottom.
It is important to note that the market lack of movement could be due to the holiday season. Many analysts are expecting to see the year end window dressing.
Regionally, Hong Kong's Hang Seng was up 1.82%,whilst Japan's Nikkei was down 0.5%, while South Korea's Kospi was down 1.04%.
With some fresh gains on Wall Street and also the surge in Chinese shares (thanks to the optimism that the Chinese government would spur lending and continue to spur growth) contributed to Asian's rise in the stock.
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