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 10): Bursa Malaysia extended earlier gains to finish higher on Thursday (March 10) due to improving market sentiment across the region and the broadly positive cues overnight from Wall Street, a dealer said.
At 5pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 1.16% or 18.2 points to 1,580.53 from 1,562.33 at Wednesday's close.
The barometer index, which opened 8.38 points stronger at 1,570.71, moved between 1,567.77 and 1,581.27 throughout the session on Thursday.
Overall market breadth remained positive with gainers outpacing decliners 608 to 421, while 382 counters were unchanged, 876 untraded and 13 others suspended.
Total turnover declined to 3.08 billion units worth RM3.4 billion against 3.5 billion units worth RM3.51 billion at Wednesday's close.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said key indices remained on an upward trajectory in line with regional peers amid slightly easing worries about inflation following a drop in commodity prices.
“Japan's Nikkei 225 and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng surged 3.94% and 1.27% respectively as investors are optimistic amid the ongoing talks to diffuse the Russia-Ukraine crisis,” he added.
As for the local bourse, he said the FBM KLCI continued to trend higher as investors were also exuberant on the plan of reopening international borders on April 1, 2022.
“We are cautiously optimistic given the improvement on the local market sentiment and foreign support but investors are staying alert on the increasing market risks, volatility as well as external uncertainties,” he pointed out.
As such, Thong anticipated the FBM KLCI to trend within the range of 1,570-1,590 towards the weekend with immediate resistance at 1,600 with support at 1,570.
Bursa Malaysia heavyweights Public Bank Bhd added 12 sen to RM4.52, Malayan Banking Bhd and CIMB Group Holdings Bhd expanded 14 sen to RM8.95 and RM5.03 respectively, Maxis Bhd increased 15 sen to RM4.17 and Tenaga Nasional Bhd appreciated 18 sen to RM9.
As for the actives, Dagang NeXchange Bhd fell five sen to RM1, Hibiscus Petroleum Bhd eased 14 sen to RM1.20, Dataprep Holdings Bhd declined three sen to 33.5 sen, Fitters Diversified Bhd shed half-a-sen to 17 sen, while SMTrack Bhd rose 1.5 sen to 10 sen.
On the index board, the FBM ACE firmed 39.66 points to 5,234.05, FBM 70 climbed 205.92 points to 13,025.12, FBM Emas Index accumulated 124.81 points to 11,167.98, FBMT 100 Index expanded 135.14 points to 10,875.48, and FBM Emas Shariah Index widened 72.61 points to 11,796.35.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index soared 338.77 points to 16,346.39, while the Industrial Products and Services Index dipped 2.34 points to 205.59, and the Plantation Index slipped 179.94 points at 8,248.88.
The Main Market volume fell to 2.15 billion shares worth RM3.20 billion from 2.34 billion shares worth RM3.26 billion on Wednesday.
Warrants turnover narrowed to 365.44 million units worth RM52.11 million compared with 443.64 million units worth RM64.24 million previously.
The ACE Market volume declined to 568.92 million shares valued at RM158.05 million versus 716.38 million shares valued at RM180.38 million on Wednesday.
Consumer products and services counters accounted for 288.03 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (513.31 million), construction (56.95 million), technology (428.48 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (125.09 million), property (114.18 million), plantation (131.84 million), REITs (7.77 million), closed/fund (12,400), energy (271.45 million), healthcare (106.42 million), telecommunications and media (59.14 million), transportation and logistics (21.33 million), and utilities (24.23 million).
Source: The Edge
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