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 6): Bursa Malaysia bucked the regional market trend to end lower today, succumbing to selling pressure on heavyweight stocks, dealers said.
At 5pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was down 7.6 points or 0.48% to 1,581.59 from last Friday’s close of 1,589.19.
It opened 1.48 points better at 1,590.67 and moved between 1,577.79 and 1,592.16 throughout the day.
Market breadth was positive with gainers outpacing decliners by 605 to 476, while 403 counters were unchanged, 754 untraded and 17 others suspended.
Turnover was higher at 4.42 billion units worth RM2.89 billion compared with 4.25 billion units worth RM2.88 billion last Friday.
A dealer said Bursa Malaysia opened higher but fell into the red at mid-morning amid selling pressure on heavyweights and continued the downtrend for the rest of the trading session.
Asian shares were mostly up today, led by a rally in the Japanese stock market amid the imminent resignation of Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, which spurred hopes that the Covid-19 pandemic in the country would be better managed by his successor.
“A disappointing US jobs data in August also fueled expectation that the Federal Reserve could push back the timeline for tapering stimulus measures and this also helped to boost Asian shares,” he told Bernama.
Singapore’s Straits Times Index gained 0.51% to 3,097.72, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index increased 1.01% to 26,163.63, Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 1.83% to 29,659.89 and South Korea’s Kospi added 0.07% to 3,203.33.
Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd economist Adam Mohamed Rahim commented that the FBM KLCI’s plantation counters dominated losers with Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd losing 3.26%.
It dragged the Bursa Malaysia Plantation Index lower by 1.1%, making it the biggest loser among Bursa's sectoral indices today.
Of the heavyweights, Malayan Banking Bhd eased three sen to RM8.33, Public Bank Bhd shed four sen to RM4.09, Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd fell 14 sen to RM8.10, Tenaga Nasional Bhd slid two sen to RM10.34, and IHH Healthcare Bhd was up two sen at RM6.35.
Of the actives, Emico Holdings Bhd gained seven sen to 44 sen, KNM Group Bhd edged up half-a-sen to 29 sen and Scope Industries Bhd improved 2.5 sen to 34 sen, while both Bina Puri Holdings Bhd and Vortex Consolidated Bhd eased half-a-sen to 5.5 sen and 7.5 sen, respectively.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index dipped 14.13 points to 11,580.85, the FBMT 100 Index was 20.51 points lower at 11,272.48, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index slipped 19.8 points to 12,674.95.
The FBM ACE increased 24.8 points to 7,275.58 and the FBM 70 gained 103.5 points to 15,203.75.
Sector wise, the Plantation Index fell 73.98 points to 6,625.71, the Financial Services Index dropped 60.55 points to 15,476.22, while the Industrial Products and Services Index inched up 0.19 of-a-point to 200.11.
Main Market volume decreased to 2.87 billion shares worth RM2.48 billion from last Friday’s 3.16 billion shares worth RM2.59 billion.
Warrants turnover rose to 315.03 million units valued at RM48.91 million compared to 280.18 million units valued at RM39.84 million.
Volume on the ACE Market widened to 1.24 billion shares worth RM360.88 million from 811.25 million shares worth RM246.32 million previously.
Consumer products and services accounted for 664.68 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (828.44 million), construction (234.98 million), technology (384.57 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (58.91 million), property (201.18 million), plantation (35.64 million), REITs (6.48 million), closed/fund (128,200), energy (263.92 million), healthcare (41.32 million), telecommunications and media (45.84 million), transportation and logistics (84.08 million) and utilities (16.8 million).
Source: The Edge
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