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 13): Bursa Malaysia ended in the red on Wednesday (July 13), with the key index declining by 1.04% amid heavy profit-taking in plantation and energy stocks, a dealer said.
At 5pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) erased 14.76 points to 1,411.32 from Tuesday's close of 1,426.08, marking its lowest level since May 18, 2020 which closed at 1,410.16.
The benchmark index, which opened 4.65 points lower at 1,421.43 — its intraday high, dropped to a low of 1,410.33 in the morning session before gaining momentum but subsequently slipped during the afternoon trading.
On the broader market, losers thumped gainers 578 to 249, while 420
counters were unchanged, 1,003 untraded, and eight others suspended.
Total turnover fell to 1.76 billion units valued at RM1.28 billion, from 2.36 billion units valued at RM1.27 billion on Tuesday.
Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd senior analyst Kenneth Leong said investors are now keeping a close watch on the United States (US) inflation numbers, which is expected to be released later Wednesday.
"With expectation that the US inflation would increase, the US Federal Reserve would remain aggressive towards interest rate hikes that may not bode well for the equities market.
"Locally, further weakness may see the FBM KLCI retreating towards 1,400, while 1,430 serves as the immediate resistance," he told Bernama.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank and Public Bank fell three sen each to RM8.61 and RM4.37 respectively, Petronas Chemicals dipped 40 sen to RM7.88, and IHH Healthcare rose three sen to RM6.42.
As for the actives, Infoline Tec and MYEG went down 1.5 sen to 30.5 sen and 80 sen respectively, Metronic slid one sen to seven sen, and MQ Technology lost half-a-sen to 3.5 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index dropped 92.48 points to 10,023.60, the FBM Emas Shariah Index shrank 116.98 points to 10,039.93, the FBM 70 lost 67.24 points to 12,037.40, the FBMT 100 Index was 91.19 points lower at 9,785.97, and the FBM ACE fell 39.53 points to 4,538.98.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index gave up 68.02 points to 16,020.20, the Industrial Products and Services Index shed 3.50 points to 166.71, and the Plantation Index trimmed 33.23 points to 6,686.70.
The Main Market volume narrowed to 1.09 billion shares worth RM1.12 billion, against 1.64 billion shares worth RM1.10 billion on Tuesday.
Warrants turnover decreased to 263.33 million units valued at RM45.05 million, versus 452.94 million units valued at RM86.22 million on Tuesday.
The ACE Market volume expanded to 396.49 million shares worth RM112.67 million, from 267.91 million shares worth RM86.74 million previously.
Consumer products and services counters accounted for 137.69 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (398.49 million), construction (28.99 million), technology (125.66 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (43.43 million), property (55.72 million), plantation (26.61 million), REITs (3.45 million), closed/fund (2,000), energy (160.03 million), healthcare (73.18 million), telecommunications and media (19.25 million), transportation and logistics (15.51 million), and utilities (9.04 million).
Source: The Edge
Comments
Post a Comment