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 (April 29): Bursa Malaysia ended slightly higher in volatile trading on Friday (April 29), boosted by continued buying support in selected heavyweight counters such as gaming, oil and gas, as well as plantation stocks.
The benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) climbed 3.12 points, or 0.2%, to 1,600.43 from Thursday’s close of 1,597.31.
The benchmark index opened 4.71 points higher at 1,602.02 and moved between 1,595.78 and 1,605.02 throughout the day.
On the broader market, gainers outpaced decliners 566 to 390, while 448 counters were unchanged, 884 untraded, and 67 others suspended.Total turnover rose to 2.81 billion units worth RM2.07 billion from 2.48 billion units worth RM2.19 billion on Thursday.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said key regional markets maintained their uptrend on the strong buying of technology stocks following big gains on Nasdaq overnight.
As for the local bourse, the 1,600 psychological mark has remained a hurdle due to strong resistance.
“We see a quiet trading week ahead due to the Hari Raya and Labour Day holidays. We also expect some profit-taking activities to emerge given the strong resistance at 1,600,” he told Bernama.
Additionally, Thong said investors could look into the winners of the digital banking licence such as RHB Bank Bhd, Aeon Credit Service (M) Bhd, and YTL Corp Bhd for trading opportunities.
Earlier, Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) announced that five consortia, namely Boost Holdings Bhd-RHB Bank Bhd, GXS Bank Pte Ltd-Kuok Brothers Sdn Bhd, Sea Ltd-YTL Digital Capital Sdn Bhd, AEON Financial Service Co Ltd-AEON Credit Service (M) Bhd-MoneyLion Inc, and KAF Investment Bank Sdn Bhd, have been awarded Malaysia’s digital bank licences.
At 5pm, RHB Bank rose six sen to RM6.25, Aeon Credit went up 30 sen to RM15.90 and YTL added four sen to 63.5 sen.
Among the heavyweight counters, Malayan Banking Bhd gained three sen to RM9.07, Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd increased 12 sen to RM10.22, CIMB Group Holdings Bhd inched up one sen to RM5.20, while Public Bank Bhd lost two sen to RM4.69 and IHH Healthcare Bhd slid four sen to RM6.61.
Of the actives, PUC Bhd slipped 3.5 sen to 7.5 sen, both Techna-X Bhd and MNC Wireless Bhd bagged half-a-sen to 12.5 sen and three sen respectively, Euro Holdings Bhd went up 3.5 sen to 21 sen and MN Holdings Bhd was one sen higher at 24.5 sen.
On the index board, FBM 70 added 60.91 points to 13,772.18, FBM Emas Index gained 30.6 points to 11,466.08, FBMT 100 Index increased 28.13 points to 11,120.5 and FBM Emas Shariah Index climbed 31.75 points to 12,022.28, while FBM ACE dropped 7.1 points to 5,578.67.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index advanced 15.34 points to 16,926.8, the Industrial Products and Services Index was 0.61 of-a-point better at 210.03, and the Plantation Index improved 36.1 points to 8,821.01.
Main Market volume was marginally lower at 1.66 billion shares worth RM1.83 billion compared with 1.67 billion shares worth RM1.98 billion on Thursday.
The turnover for warrants widened to 473.01 million units valued at RM95.58 million against 268.65 million units valued at RM46.96 million.
ACE Market volume jumped to 674.39 million shares worth RM135.61 million versus 544.68 million shares worth RM160.1 million previously.
Consumer products and services counters accounted for 391.07 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (369.4 million), construction (68.2 million), technology (144.4 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (61.4 million), property (130.56 million), plantation (78.19 million), REITs (16.89 million), closed/fund (51,600), energy (229.28 million), healthcare (28.24 million), telecommunications and media (31.15 million), transportation and logistics (21.53 million), and utilities (93.14 million).
Bursa Malaysia Bhd and its subsidiaries will be closed on May 2, 2022 (Monday) in conjunction with the Labour Day replacement holiday and will also be closed for two more days on May 3 and 4 (Tuesday and Wednesday) in conjunction with the Hari Raya Aidilfitri holidays.
Bursa Malaysia and its subsidiaries will resume operations on May 5, 2022 (Thursday).
Source: The Edge
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