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 (March 8): Bursa Malaysia closed lower for the third consecutive trading day on Tuesday (March 8) on continued selling pressure, with all indices in the negative territory, tracking developments in the Russia-Ukraine crisis, a dealer said.
At 5pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 1.63% or 25.69 points to 1,546.87 from 1,572.56 at Monday's close.
The index, which opened 6.11 points weaker at 1,566.45, moved between 1,540.9 and 1,566.84 throughout the trading session.
Overall market breadth was negative with losers beating gainers 794 to 272, while 368 counters were unchanged, 838 untraded, and 11 others suspended.
Total turnover fell to 3.96 billion units worth RM3.77 billion against 4.35 billion units worth RM3.75 billion on Monday.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said key regional peers were also in the red, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight on concerns about the outlook for inflation as crude oil prices surged to a 14-year high, with global benchmark Brent crude at US$130 per barrel.
Back home, he said the FBM KLCI was down again due to heavy selling, weighed down by broad-based regional weaknesses.
Japan's Nikkei 225 slipped 1.71% to 24,790.95, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index went down 1.39% to 20,765.87, China's SSE Composite Index fell 2.35% to 3,293.53, and Singapore’s Straits Times Index declined 1.22% to 3,148.86.
“Nevertheless, we foresee any further dips may attract bargain hunting, hence we reckon the local index to move at between 1,540 and 1,560 range for the remainder of the week,” he told Bernama.
On a technical perspective, Thong expects the immediate support at 1,520 and resistance at 1,570.
Heavyweights Malayan Banking Bhd rose one sen to RM8.80, Public Bank Bhd lost one sen to RM4.30, Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd shed 40 sen to RM9.70, Press Metal Aluminium Holdings Bhd gave up 31 sen to RM6.79, and IHH Healthcare Bhd slid seven sen to RM6.38.
As for the actives, SMTrack Bhd slipped 6.5 sen to 10.5 sen, Hibiscus Petroleum Bhd decreased three sen to RM1.31, Dagang NeXchange Bhd gained half-a-sen to 93.5 sen, Ta Win Holdings Bhd was flat at 13.5 sen, and MY EG Services Bhd shed two sen to 89 sen.
On the index board, the FBM ACE dipped 123.68 points to 5,024.94, FBM 70 narrowed 293.23 points to 12,465.3, FBM Emas Index shed 195.51 points to 10,878.32, FBMT 100 Index slid 191.23 points to 10,593.8, and FBM Emas Shariah Index contracted 271.67 points to 11,554.76.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index erased 171.35 points to 15,770.37, the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 6.38 points at 203.19, and the Plantation Index declined 111.81 points to 8,250.17.
The Main Market volume shrank to 2.69 billion shares worth RM3.53 billion from 3.1 billion shares worth RM3.49 billion on Monday.
Warrants turnover declined to 415.13 million units worth RM54.08 million compared with 441.5 million units worth RM54.56 million previously.
The ACE Market volume increased to 853.14 million shares valued at RM181.68 million versus 795.77 million shares valued at RM204.82 million on Monday.
Consumer products and services counters accounted for 463.12 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (698.55 million), construction (76.6 million), technology (472.77 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (132.12 million), property (204.04 million), plantation (166.75 million), REITs (11.3 million), closed/fund (100,700), energy (282.82 million), healthcare (72.7 million), telecommunications and media (30.42 million), transportation and logistics (41.04 million), and utilities (39.58 million).
Source: The Edge
Comments
Post a Comment