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 (Dec 6): Fears over Omicron’s possible impact on global economic recovery dragged Bursa Malaysia’s key market barometer to its lowest in 13 months on Monday.
The benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 18.29 points or 1.22% to 1,483.45 compared with 1,501.74 at Thursday’s close.
The market bellwether opened 1.92 points better at 1,503.66 and reached its intraday high of 1,503.76 in the early morning.
On the broader market, losers trounced gainers 789 to 242, while 369 counters were unchanged, 876 untraded, and 20 others suspended.Turnover decreased to 3.66 billion units valued at RM2.57 billion from Thursday’s 3.73 billion units valued at RM3.06 billion.
The new Covid-19 variant has been detected in 38 countries, according to World Health Organisation on Friday.
Following this, Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said key regional markets closed broadly lower as worries about the Omicron variant continue while investors are cautious ahead of the release of China's economic data scheduled this week.
China’s exports and inflation would be released soon, alongside the US Federal Reserve monetary policy stance.
“As for the local bourse, we expect sentiment to continue to remain cautious and reckon that external uncertainties will be a major setback. At the same time, the FBM KLCI has broken the 1,490 support level.
“As such, we expect the benchmark index to trend around the 1,480-1,490 range for the the week. Technically, we spot the next support level at 1,480 followed by 1,455 while resistance is at 1,500,” he told Bernama.
Top Glove Corp Bhd led the downtrend among the heavyweights, losing 24 sen to RM2.57, followed by Axiata Group Bhd, which fell 14 sen to RM3.65.
Tenaga Nasional Bhd went down 18 sen to RM9.02, Petronas Gas Bhd dropped 28 sen to RM16.30, while Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd slid eight sen to RM8.41.
Only six index-linked heavyweights were in the positive territory: CIMB Group Holdings Bhd gained eight sen to RM5.24 and Malayan Banking Bhd rose four sen to RM7.99.
Of the actives, XOX Bhd, VSolar Group Bhd, Sapura Energy Bhd, and Mlabs Systems Bhd were all flat at three sen, 1.5 sen, eight sen, and 3.5 sen respectively.
Kanger International Bhd lost one sen to three sen and VS Industry Bhd gained 10 sen to RM1.25.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index gave up 128.97 points to 10,809.94, the FBMT 100 Index fell 126.82 points to 10,518.93, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index was 203.87 points weaker at 11,711.03.
The FBM 70 erased 157.14 points to 13,972.89 and the FBM ACE dipped 200.56 points to 6,213.02.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index shed 1.91 points to 191.06, the Financial Services Index lost 8.4 points to 14,967.71 and the Plantation Index trimmed 81.26 points to 6,394.15.
The Main Market volume dwindled to 1.98 billion shares valued at RM2.27 billion versus Thursday’s 2.49 billion shares valued at RM2.76 billion.
Warrants turnover expanded to 371.27 million units worth RM51.85 million against 318.31 million units worth RM40.36 million.
The volume on the ACE Market swelled to 1.19 billion shares valued at RM238.94 million from 914.23 million shares valued at RM259.42 million previously.
Consumer products and services counters accounted for 348.28 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (590.75 million), construction (73.36 million), technology (234.72 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (103.96 million), property (132.70 million), plantation (17.39 million), REITs (6.82 million), closed/fund (94,000), energy (224.65 million), healthcare (132.41 million), telecommunications and media (46.79 million), transportation and logistics (26.62 million), and utilities (36.69 million).
Source: The Edge
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