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 3): Bursa Malaysia took a small step back on Wednesday (May 3) after Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) unexpectedly raised the overnight policy rate (OPR) by 25 basis points (bps) to 3.0% amid financial and economic worries in the United States.
At 5pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell a marginal 0.12 points to its intraday high of 1,425.99, from Tuesday’s close of 1,426.11.
The benchmark index opened 2.21 points lower at 1,423.90 and moved between 1,415.47 and 1,425.99 throughout the trading session.
The market breadth was negative with decliners outnumbering gainers 553 to 277, while 405 counters were unchanged, 1,004 untraded and 19 others suspended.
Turnover rose to 3.48 billion units worth RM1.57 billion, from 2.90 billion units valued at RM1.52 billion on Tuesday.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said key regional indices ended mostly lower, as investors were worried about the mounting US debt ceiling issue and the country’s interest rate outlook. He reckoned that the local bourse would see some headwinds following BNM's monetary tightening measure.
“As such, we expect the FBM KLCI to trend sideways within the 1,420-1,430 range for the remainder of the week. Technically, we see immediate support at 1,410 and resistance at 1,440 points,” he told Bernama.
Of the heavyweight counters, Maybank, Petronas Chemicals, and CelcomDigi advanced four sen each to RM8.72, RM7.24 and RM4.44 respectively.
Public Bank eased one sen to RM3.91 and CIMB slid two sen to RM5.07.
Among the actives, Bahvest plunged 14.5 sen to 21.5 sen, Vinvest and Hong Seng added half-a-sen each to 21 sen and 13 sen respectively, while Saudee lost half-a-sen to three sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index shed 6.88 points to 10,448.12, the FBMT 100 Index slipped 1.04 points to 10,140.12, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index reduced 11.31 points to 10,786.48.
The FBM ACE Index was 103.32 points lower at 5,213.30, and the FBM 70 index erased 2.18 points to 13,555.11.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged down 0.99 points to 171.45, the Financial Services Index dropped 13.93 points to 15,588.79, and the Energy Index eased 12.34 points to 833.48, while the Plantation Index was 33.67 points higher at 6,826.61.
The Main Market volume increased to 2.44 billion units worth RM1.39 billion, from 2.05 billion units valued at RM1.30 billion on Tuesday.
Warrant turnover narrowed to 290.19 million units valued at RM48.60 million, against 323.60 million units worth RM67.76 million previously.
The ACE Market volume grew to 741.52 million shares worth RM216.13 million, versus 529.03 million shares valued at RM152.17 million on Tuesday.
Consumer products and services counters accounted for 400.85 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (941.85 million); construction (158.75 million); technology (423.00 million); SPAC (nil), financial services (63.60 million); property (253.74 million); plantation (24.42 million); REITs (6.36 million), closed/fund (2,000); energy (86.90 million); healthcare (79.45 million); telecommunications and media (74.25 million); transportation and logistics (57.24 million); and utilities (55.54 million).
The market will be closed on Thursday (May 4), in conjunction with the Wesak Day public holiday.
Source: The Edge
Comments
Post a Comment