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 15): Bursa Malaysia ended the week marginally lower on Friday (July 15), with the index declining 0.11% due to lack of buying catalyst amid a lacklustre trading day, a dealer said.
At 5pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) slipped 1.62 points to 1,418.44 from Thursday's close of 1,420.06.
The benchmark index opened unchanged at 1,420.06 — also its intraday high — and slid to a low of 1,415.46 during the morning session, and continued to trade within that range in the afternoon session.
On the broader market, losers surpassed gainers 425 to 388, while 419 counters were unchanged, 1,044 untraded, and 20 others suspended.
Total turnover improved to 2.05 billion units valued at RM1.06 billion, against 2.01 billion units valued at RM1.20 billion on Thursday.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said key regional indices closed mixed on Friday on renewed recession fears due to aggressive monetary tightening by global central banks.
On the home front, he said the local bourse is expected to see muted reaction as investor sentiment remained soft for the time being.
"Hence, we anticipate the index to trend sideways for next week with immediate support at 1,400 and resistance at 1,460," he told Bernama.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank eased three sen to RM8.59, Public Bank was flat at RM4.40, Petronas Chemicals gained eight sen to RM8.11, IHH Healthcare lost one sen to RM6.43, and CIMB fell five sen to RM5.05.
Of the actives, Sapura Energy was flat at four sen, Top Glove dipped 2.5 sen to 99.5 sen, while MYEG and Metronic lost half-a-sen each to 80 sen and 8.5 sen, respectively.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index went down 14.01 points to 10,047.89, the FBM Emas Shariah Index lost 9.91 points to 10,082.35, the FBM 70 was 27.02 points lower at 11,995.01, the FBMT 100 Index trimmed 13.72 points to 9,815.75, while the FBM ACE edged up 7.01 points to 4,559.83.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index declined 52.51 points to 16,007.69, the Industrial Products and Services Index was 1.30 points lower at 166.73, and the Plantation Index shed 13.48 points to 6,655.73.
The Main Market volume narrowed to 1.29 billion shares worth RM916.47 million, against 1.45 billion shares worth RM1.07 billion on Thursday.
Warrants turnover widened to 398.90 million units valued at RM75.88 million, versus 275.17 million units valued at RM49.74 million yesterday.
The ACE Market volume improved to 351.41 million shares worth RM66.41 million, from 273.22 million shares worth RM80.63 million previously.
Consumer products and services counters accounted for 227.92 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (441.84 million), construction (52.11 million), technology (113.80 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (31.38 million), property (68.45 million), plantation (30.04 million), REITs (2.45 million), closed/fund (18,300), energy (195.68 million), healthcare (58.08 million), telecommunications and media (16.40 million), transportation and logistics (50.50 million), and utilities (8.71 million).
Source: The Edge
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