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 (July 26): Bursa Malaysia ended lower on Tuesday (July 26) on persistent profit-taking and lack of market catalysts, a dealer said.
At 5pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 5.53 points or 0.38% to 1,463.69 from Monday’s close of 1,469.22.
The index, which opened 2.73 points easier at 1,466.49, moved within a narrow range of between 1,459.12 and 1,466.49 throughout the day.
On the broader market, losers outpaced gainers 409 to 390, while 410 counters were unchanged, 1,100 untraded, and 27 others suspended.
Total turnover widened to 2.41 billion units worth RM1.22 billion from 2.01 billion units worth RM1.12 billion on Monday.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice president of equity research Thong Pak Leng, however, anticipates foreign funds to continue accumulating local stocks to take advantage of the local market's relatively cheap valuations against regional peers and the weaker ringgit.
"As such, we foresee the benchmark index to trend slightly higher at the 1,460 to 1,485 range for the remaining week, with immediate resistance at 1,500 and support at 1,460 followed by 1,410," he told Bernama.
Meanwhile, key regional indices closed mostly higher as news that the new Covid-19 cases in China dropped to the lowest level in more than a week aided market sentiment, he shared.
Singapore's Straits Times Index rose 0.37% to 3,192.12, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was 1.67% higher at 20,905.88, China’s SSE Composite Index improved 0.83% to 3,277.44, South Korea's KOSPI added 0.39% to 2,412.96, while Japan's Nikkei eased 0.16% to 27,655.21.
Back home, among the heavyweights, Malayan Banking Bhd fell one sen to RM8.79, while Public Bank Bhd, Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd, IHH Healthcare Bhd, and CIMB Group Holdings Bhd gave up two sen each to RM4.60, RM8.62, RM6.43 and RM5.20, respectively.
Of the actives, ACE Market debutant UMediC Group Bhd earned 12 sen to 44 sen, Serba Dinamik Holdings Bhd gained 2.5 sen to 11 sen, MY EG Services Bhd ticked up 1.5 sen to 75.5 sen, Bintai Kinden Corporation Bhd increased one sen to 12 sen, while Zen Tech International Bhd shed half-a-sen to five sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index shed 24.14 points to 10,375.75, the FBM Emas Shariah Index slipped 24.25 points to 10,421.99, the FBMT 100 Index slid 26.52 points to 10,133.85, and the FBM ACE dipped 20.41 points to 4,729.7, while the FBM 70 was 14.72 points higher at 12,403.68.
Sector-wise, the Plantation Index declined 24.61 points to 6,849.76, the Financial Services Index trimmed 23.6 points to 16,486.02, while the Energy Index expanded 8.35 points to 641.08, and the Industrial Products and Services Index put on 0.14 of-a-point to 177.4.
Main Market volume improved to 1.63 billion shares worth RM1.02 billion against 1.46 billion shares worth RM1.00 billion on Monday.
Warrants turnover expanded to 369.48 million units valued at RM66.36 million versus 274.01 million units valued at RM42.55 million on Monday.
ACE Market volume increased to 409.45 million shares worth RM135.7 million from 279.55 million shares worth RM75.54 million previously.
Consumer products and services counters accounted for 131.63 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (683.87 million), construction (52.49 million), technology (146.09 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (33.53 million), property (186.64 million), plantation (18.18 million), REITs (6.51 million), closed/fund (19,000), energy (259.7 million), healthcare (70 million), telecommunications and media (12.56 million), transportation and logistics (19.72 million), and utilities (10.61 million).
Source: The Edge
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