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 (Aug 7): The FBM KLCI closed down 10.43 points or 0.66% at 1,578.14 today as trade volume across Bursa Malaysia topped 20 billion securities for the first time ever while world markets took cue from the US-China spat.
At 5pm, Bursa's trade volume ended at 26.65 billion securities worth RM9.05 billion.
Areca Capital Sdn Bhd chief executive officer Danny Wong told theedgmarkets.com that the local bourse was subject to profit-taking today.
“This is specifically the case for the rubber glove and technology (stocks), which have seen handsome gains in the past one to two weeks,” Wong said.
Across Bursa indices today, the technology index was the top percentage decliner after the gauge closed down 3.34% followed by the healthcare index's 3.28% drop.
The healthcare index's constituents include rubber glove manufacturers.
Rubber glove manufacturers Supermax Corp Bhd and Hartalega Holdings Bhd closed down among Bursa top decliners. Notable decliners also included technology index constituent Malaysian Pacific Industries Bhd (MPI), which manufactures semiconductor devices.
Supermax closed down 86 sen or 3.62% at RM22.92 after rising to its all-time high of RM24.44 earlier today.
Hartalega, which is also a KLCI stock, ended down 66 sen or 3.33% at RM19.14 while MPI dropped 36 sen or 2.4% to RM14.62.
The top active stock was Borneo Oil Bhd, which is involved in gold mining.
Borneo Oil registered a volume of 2.72 billion shares. The stock's price closed up 2.5 sen or 50% at 7.5 sen in tandem with higher gold prices at above US$2,000 an ounce.
It was reported that gold steadied near a record high on Friday as the US dollar regained ground as a hedge against another escalation in US-China tensions, but concerns over a worsening pandemic kept bullion on track for its longest weekly gain in nearly a decade.
"Spot gold hit an all-time high of US$2,072.50 in early trade and by 0744 GMT it was down 0.1% at US$2,061.41. It has added 4.4% so far this week in what would be its ninth straight weekly gain," Reuters reported.
Bursa's trade volume of 26.65 billion securities today is a new record high after the previous all-time high yesterday (Aug 6) of 16.69 billion securities.
Prior to yesterday, the previous all-time high volume was 15.62 billion securities on Tuesday (Aug 4).
On Tuesday, the bourse's securities transaction value also ended at a record high of RM10.45 billion.
Source: The Edge
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