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 (June 30): Bursa Malaysia erased gains made earlier on Thursday (June 30) to end at its intraday low following heavy selling in the last 10 minutes of trading, an analyst said.
At 5pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) lost 0.5%, or 7.26 points, to finish at 1,444.22 from Wednesday's close of 1,451.48.
The benchmark index, which opened 4.02 points better at 1,455.5, moved between 1,444.22 and 1,460.3 throughout the day.
Overall market breadth was negative with losers outpacing gainers 520 to 327, while 396 counters were unchanged, 1,039 untraded, and 65 others suspended.Total turnover narrowed to 2.26 billion units worth RM1.97 billion from 2.37 billion units valued at RM1.77 billion on Wednesday.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said regionally, key indices also finished broadly lower following negative cues from Wall Street overnight.
The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo declined after Japan’s May industrial production slumped 7.2% compared with the previous month.
Meanwhile, he said Chinese markets closed higher as China reported stronger factory activity in June.
Data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed that the manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) rose to 50.2 in June from 49.6 in May, the first expansion since February.
According to Thong, this positive news would likely benefit Malaysia given that China is Malaysia’s largest trading partner.
“Back home, we believe the direction of Malaysian equities is still very much dependent on regional and global volatilities although bargain hunting may prevail due to attractive valuations.
“As such, we expect the FBM KLCI to trend sideways with an upside bias within the region of 1,440-1,460 towards the weekend with immediate support at 1,430 while support at 1,460,” he told Bernama.
Thong further said as the market entered the second half of the year, there could be optimism for the equity market as foreign funds would return to the region.
"Due to the economic problems and inflation challenges in the United States and European Union, investors are likely to go into regions which are still experiencing economic growth, and Asia-Pacific is one of the prime destinations,” he said.
He also said the online brokerage's year-end FBM KLCI target remained unchanged at 1,670 based on 13.5 times calendar year 2022 earnings.
Meanwhile, among the heavyweights, Public Bank Bhd fell five sen to RM4.37, Malayan Banking Bhd lost six sen to RM8.59, Top Glove Corp Bhd dipped eight sen to RM1.04, Tenaga Nasional Bhd eased 10 sen to RM7.98, Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd decreased seven sen to RM9, and IHH Healthcare Bhd was down five sen to RM6.45.
Top Glove led the most active stock list on Bursa Malaysia during the session, followed by Cypark Resources Bhd, which dropped 3.5 sen to 34.5 sen; Reach Energy Bhd and Widad Group Bhd, which were flat at 5.5 sen and 36.5 sen, respectively; and MQ Technology Bhd, which shed half-a-sen to 25 sen.
Among the top losers, Nestle (Malaysia) Bhd fell 70 sen to RM132.60, Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd dropped 50 sen to RM21.94, and Petronas Dagangan Bhd slid 30 sen to RM21.12.
On the index board, the FBM ACE contracted 88.71 points to 4,751.38, the FBM Emas Index dropped 42.41 points to 10,307.26, the FBM Emas Shariah Index fell 35.28 points to 10,503.97, the FBM 70 was 9.86 points easier at 12,493.21, and the FBMT 100 Index trimmed 40.39 points to 10,047.49.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index retreated 78.69 points to 15,984.18 and the Plantation Index was 69.81 points weaker at 6,900.83, but the Industrial Products and Services Index was 0.42 of-a-point higher at 181.7.
Main Market volume decreased to 1.41 billion shares valued at RM1.74 billion from 1.52 billion shares worth RM1.55 billion on Wednesday.
Warrants turnover widened to 473.03 million units worth RM104.77 million against 463.47 million units valued at RM93.38 million on Wednesday.
ACE Market volume fell to 378.5 million shares valued at RM118.99 million versus 385.71 million shares valued at RM96.16 million previously.
Consumer products and services counters accounted for 196.07 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (403.66 million), construction (45.26 million), technology (120.83 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (66 million), property (69.24 million), plantation (30.62 million), REITs (2.62 million), closed/fund (nil), energy (169.42 million), healthcare (204 million), telecommunications and media (63.22 million), transportation and logistics (26.57 million), and utilities (13.62 million).
Source: The Edge
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