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 (Oct 17): The FBM KLCI closed 0.03% or 0.4 points lower to 1574.50 as the broader market was mostly lukewarm today, in line with the region, on a lack of updates on the US-China trade deal.
The benchmark index saw 2.33 billion shares traded at RM1.88 billion today.
TA Securities Holdings Bhd senior technical analyst Steven Soo told theedgemarkets.com that there was a tug-of-war going on as the KLCI closed in negative territory, with bargain hunting going on for mega blue chips.
“Nevertheless, the index is still holding up pretty well, despite mixed signals on the external market,” he said over the phone.
Soo also noted some rotational play going on amongst investors in the market.
“The oil and gas sector continues to be focus, whereas the property sector remains underperforming, perhaps because the recently-tabled Budget 2020 was not enough to boost sentiment,” he added.
Regionally, most markets were also tepid, as hopes of a Sino-US trade deal waned amid a lack of concrete details, Reuters said.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 index dropped 0.09%, while South Korea’s Kospi closed 0.23% lower.
In China, the Shanghai Composite Index ended 0.05% lower, though the Hang Seng was 0.69% higher.
Source: The Edge
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