The Bank of Russia unexpectedly maintained its key interest rate at a record-high 21% , defying analysts’ expectations of another significant hike as inflation remains stubbornly elevated. The decision marks a shift toward a more measured approach in balancing economic growth and price stability. Key Details Inflation Concerns: Annual inflation climbed to 8.9% in November, well above the central bank’s 4% target , with inflation expectations reaching 13.9% in December. Policy Rationale: The central bank cited the significant tightening of monetary conditions after October’s 200-basis point hike as sufficient to resume disinflationary processes. Governor Elvira Nabiullina emphasized avoiding both economic overheating and severe slowdowns. Economic Overheating: Elevated government spending on the war in Ukraine and social programs, coupled with labor shortages and rising wages, have fueled strong domestic demand, exacerbating price pressures...
KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 19): The FBM KLCI rose 7.77 points or 0.43% to close at 1,800.71 points today as Malaysian shares played catch up with Asian shares and after US equities' overnight rise.
Today, the KLCI closed higher after yesterday’s 10.82-point drop at 1,792.94 points caused by a knee-jerk impact on market sentiment from the escalating China-US trade dispute. Malaysian shares resumed trading yesterday after markets were closed on Monday in lieu of Malaysia Day which fell on Sunday.
Today, Areca Capital Sdn Bhd chief executive officer Danny Wong told theedgemarkets.com: “Besides the overnight performance of Dow (Jones Industrial Average), today’s performance of the KLCI is also because of the KLCI catching up with the regional market, after closing lower yesterday versus the broader region.
“However in the short term, I think it will still be a choppy market, with the KLCI hovering around the 1,800-mark barring any external factors.”
Across Asian bourses today, Japan’s Nikkei 225 finished 1.08% higher while South Korea’s Kospi closed lower by a marginal 0.023%. In China, the Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng were up 1.14% and 1.19% respectively.
Reuters reported that Asian stocks rose across the board on Wednesday as expectations that Beijing would implement stimulus to soften the economic blow from the Sino-US trade war helped Chinese shares rally.
The Trump administration said on Monday it will implement new tariffs of 10 percent on US$200 billion of Chinese products on Sept 24, with the tariffs to go up to 25 percent by the end of 2018. China hit back, saying it will levy tariffs on about US$60 billion worth of US goods, as previously planned, but cut the tariff rates.
Source: The Edge
Comments
Post a Comment