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 (Feb 18): The Kuala Lumpur stock market gave up early gains to close 1.22% lower today, mirroring the fall in most regional bourses, dealers said.
At 5pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) dipped 19.45 points to 1,575.84 from 1,595.29 at Wednesday’s close.
The index opened 4.02 points higher at 1,599.31, its intraday high, and hit its lowest level of 1,575.84 at closing.
On the broader market, losers thumped gainers 823 to 448, while 392 counters were unchanged, 514 untraded and 10 others suspended.
Total volume was higher at 14.49 billion units worth RM6.73 billion compared with 10.13 billion units worth RM5.22 billion yesterday.
Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd economist Adam Mohamed Rahim said other regional peers were also in the red as jitters over the spread of Covid-19 variants appeared to have slightly dampened sentiment on the anticipated economic recovery, underpinned by the planned vaccination programmes in many countries.
“With that, all banking counters under the FBM KLCI recorded losses, with CIMB recording the largest loss of 3.1% to RM4.13.
“As such, the Bursa Malaysia Financial Services Index was the biggest loser among sectoral indices after dropping by 1.9%. However, on the bright side, the rally in oil prices led the oil and gas counters to be actively traded including Velesto and Sapura Energy, which were in the top five of the most actively traded stocks,” he told Bernama today.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank eased 16 sen to RM7.93, Public Bank shed eight sen to RM4.11, PetChem declined six sen to RM7.47, Tenaga was down one sen to RM9.85, and Top Glove trimmed 12 sen to RM6.07.
Of the actives, Dagang NeXchange soared 22 sen to 77 sen, Techna-X rose 2.5 sen to 18.5 sen, Velesto Energy added 1.5 sen to 18 sen, Sapura Energy rose half a sen to 15.5 sen, and Ta Win gained 6.5 sen to 28.5 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index slid 113.39 points to 11,569.96, the FBMT 100 Index decreased 121.7 points to 11,247.71, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index was 61.93 points lower at 13,056.32.
The FBM 70 fell 99.05 points to 15,231.02 while the FBM ACE dipped 178.6 points to 11,087.95.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index retreated 292.56 points to 14,803.12, the Industrial Products and Services Index declined 1.53 points to 181.05, while the Plantation Index climbed 66.18 points to 7,175.88.
The Main Market volume rose to 10.59 billion shares worth RM5.73 billion from 6.65 billion shares worth RM4.32 billion recorded at Wednesday’s close.Warrants turnover was higher at 373.73 million units valued at RM57.8 million from 294.97 million units valued at RM43.76 million.
Volume on the ACE Market widened to 3.52 billion shares worth RM949.71 million from 3.18 billion shares worth RM854.56 million previously.
Consumer products and services accounted for 690.98 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (1.57 billion), construction (281.25 million), technology (4.38 billion), SPAC (nil), financial services (111.65 million), property (290.04 million), plantations (68.01 million), REITs (13.76 million), closed/fund (33,500), energy (2.74 billion), healthcare (60.08 million), telecommunications and media (93.5 million), transportation and logistics (234.04 million), and utilities (42.55 million).
Source: The Edge
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