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 (Dec 7): Bursa Malaysia gave up earlier gains to end in negative territory on Wednesday (Dec 7), in line with the weak sentiment in regional markets, following negative cues from Wall Street overnight.
At 5pm, the benchmark FBM KLCI index stood at 1,466.88, down 4.67 points or 0.32%, from Tuesday's closing at 1,471.55.
The market bellwether opened 0.09 of a point easier at 1,471.46, and moved in a narrow range of between 1,466.46 and 1,477.86 throughout the day.
Market breadth was also negative, with losers beating gainers 501 to 401, while 369 counters were unchanged, 894 untraded, and 10 others suspended.
Turnover fell to 3.35 billion units worth RM2.25 billion, from Tuesday's 4.91 billion units worth RM2.55 billion.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said despite the lacklustre trading environment over the last few days, the online broker reckoned that bargain-hunting may emerge anytime soon, given the cheap valuations of local equities.
"Hence, we anticipate the KLCI to move higher within the range of 1,460-1,480 for the remainder of the week,” he told Bernama.
Region-wise, Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index went down 0.72% to 27,686.40, Singapore’s Straits Times Index eased 0.59% to 3,233.32, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index declined 3.22% to 18,814.82, and China's SSE Composite Index dipped 0.40% to 3,199.62, while Indonesia's Jakarta Composite Index slipped 1.07% to 6,818.75.
Among local heavyweights, Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) rose four sen to RM8.65, CIMB Group Holdings Bhd advanced nine sen to RM5.66, IHH Healthcare Bhd jumped eight sen to RM5.90, Public Bank Bhd gave up three sen to RM4.42, Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd eased one sen to RM8.55, and Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) slid 11 sen to RM9.07.
Of the actives, AHB Holdings Bhd climbed six sen to 18.5 sen, Solution Group Bhd gained 2.5 sen to 34.5 sen, Borneo Oil Bhd was unchanged at two sen and Dataprep Holdings Bhd was flat at 31 sen, and Advance Synergy Bhd shed one sen to 17.5 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index decreased 39.34 points to 10,543.66, the FBMT 100 Index shrank 30.42 points to 10,245.52, the FBM Emas Shariah Index trimmed 80.62 points to 10,687.06, the FBM 70 declined 29.45 points to 12,901.32, and the FBM ACE inched down 0.78 of a point to 5,498.71.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index fell 44.14 points to 16,483.56, the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 1.40 points to 181.37, and the Plantation Index put on 1.28 points to 6,726.31, while the Energy Index decreased 17.43 points to 788.39.
The Main Market volume declined to 2.10 billion shares worth RM1.83 billion, from Tuesday's 3.08 billion shares worth RM1.93 billion.
Warrant turnover went up to 331.56 million units valued at RM71.61 million, from 317.95 million units valued at RM62.93 million.
The ACE Market volume dwindled to 918.33 million shares worth RM343.59 million, from 1.51 billion shares worth RM553.75 million previously.
Consumer product and service counters accounted for 451.30 million shares traded on the Main Market, followed by industrial products and services (694.22 billion), construction (71.23 million), technology (304.68 million), special purpose acquisition companies (nil), financial services (100.38 million), property (125.27 million), plantation (20.74 million), real estate investment trusts (6.93 million), closed/funds (2,000), energy (142.94 million), healthcare (82.85 million), telecommunications and media (35.82 million), transportation and logistics (39.77 million), and utilities (19.58 million).
Source: The Edge
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