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 (May 23): Bursa Malaysia extended Monday’s (May 22) losses to end lower on Tuesday on continued selling in financial services, as well as industrial products and services counters, amid weaker sentiment on regional bourses.
At 5.00pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 7.46 points to close at 1,411.54 compared with 1,419.00 at Monday's close.
The market bellwether opened 0.68 of-a-point lower at 1,418.32 this morning and moved between 1,409.51 and 1,419.61 throughout the day.
The
broader market was also negative with decliners outpacing advancers 518
to 315, while 399 counters were unchanged, 1,027 untraded and 14 others
suspended.
Turnover decreased to 2.46 billion units worth RM1.66 billion from 2.79 billion units worth RM1.79 billion on Monday.
Public Bank and Petronas Chemicals were the top contributors to the local benchmark index losses, declining 4.0 sen and 7.0 sen each to RM3.91 and RM6.89, respectively, with a combined 2.20 points.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said the FBM KLCI continued to trend lower amid the sell-down regionally.
“Key regional markets were mostly in the negative territory as investors are cautious over the United States debt ceiling negotiations which ended without any agreement, that may push the US economy towards debt default.
“Without raising its debt ceiling, the US government is expected to exhaust its funds to meet financial obligations by June 1,” he told Bernama on Tuesday.
According to Thong, such a scenario would have far-reaching consequences, causing significant disturbances in global financial markets and further burdening an already faltering global economy.
“Back home, upon analysing the domestic situation, we believe that the benchmark index is currently oversold, hence, we reckon bargain hunting may emerge anytime soon.
“Despite the cautious market sentiment, we anticipate the market to rebound and trend within the range of 1,410-1,425 points for the remaining week. Technically speaking, we see the immediate support at 1,400 and resistance at 1,440,” he said.
Among other heavyweights, Maybank added 3.0 sen to RM8.61, TNB and CIMB went down 4.0 sen each to RM9.56 and RM5.01, respectively, IHH Healthcare gave up 6.0 sen to RM5.90, while CelcomDigi slipped 2.0 sen to RM4.39.
As for the active counters, Revenue Group shed 1.5 sen to 28.5 sen, TWL Holdings eased half-a-sen to 4.0 sen, Bahvest Resources climbed half-a-sen to 16 sen, while TA Win was flat at 4.0 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index dipped 45.22 points to 10,370.65, the FBMT 100 Index slid 43.97 points to 10,070.49, the FBM Emas Shariah Index declined 46.95 points to 10,742.21, the FBM 70 Index went down 20.88 points to 13,599.81, and the FBM ACE Index shrank 37.74 points to 4,917.79.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index improved 0.95 of-a-point to 164.13, the Plantation Index slid 53.14 points to 6,975.15, the Energy Index lost 5.08 points to 836.85, and the Financial Services Index decreased 78.42 points to 15,410.21.
The Main Market volume rose to 1.59 billion units valued at RM1.45 billion from 1.55 billion units valued at RM1.56 billion on Monday.
Warrants turnover declined to 378.99 million units worth RM52.05 million against 387.19 million units worth RM59.55 million on Monday.
The ACE Market volume dwindled to 490.11 million shares valued at RM151.28 million versus 834.45 million shares valued at RM181.65 million previously.
Consumer products and services counters accounted for 319.80 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (334.97 million); construction (59.79 million); technology (206.95 million); SPAC (nil); financial services (52.20 million); property (253.37 million); plantation (31.93 million); REITs (6.04 million), closed/fund (nil); energy (102.50 million); healthcare (118.41 million); telecommunications and media (37.87 million); transportation and logistics (25.47 million); and utilities (38.24 million).
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