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 (Sept 11): Bursa Malaysia's FBM KLCI pared losses and eked out marginal gains at the close on Monday, on the back of financial counters amid a mixed regional performance dampened by worries over China’s property sector.
At 5pm, the KLCI added 0.09 of a point to 1,455.04 from 1,454.95 at Friday’s close. After opening 1.23 points weaker at 1,453.72, the barometer index moved between 1,451.37 and 1,455.56 throughout the session.
On the broader market, decliners thumped gainers by 609 to 295, with 445 counters unchanged and 974 untraded. Turnover increased to 2.8 billion units worth RM1.64 billion against Friday’s 2.55 billion units worth RM1.85 billion.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng reckons some bargain hunting might emerge going forward due to the cheap valuations of the benchmark. Thus, he expects the KLCI to trend sideways with an upside bias within the range of 1,445-1,465 for the week.
"However, we believe investors may refrain from making substantial moves due to the lack of compelling buying incentives amid the prevailing jittery market sentiment caused by heightened global market risks and volatility," he said.
Regionally, stock indices closed with mixed results on worries over China’s property sector and ahead of the upcoming release of the US consumer price index (CPI) for August on Wednesday (Sept 13) and the country’s retail sales data on Thursday (Sept 14).
China is also due to unveil industrial output and retail sales data this week.
"While China's equities exhibited some positivity with signs of deflationary pressure easing, the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong experienced losses, primarily attributed to investor unease about the property sector crisis there,” he noted.
Bursa heavyweight counters Maybank, CIMB Bank Bhd, Hong Leong Bank Bhd and IHH Healthcare Bhd gained two sen each to RM9.16, RM5.71, RM19.82 and RM5.92, respectively, while Hong Leong Financial Group was one sen higher at RM18.
Of the actives, KNM Group Bhd shed one sen to 11 sen and DGB Asia Bhd added half a sen to one sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index erased 3.09 points to 10,723.83, the FBM Emas Shariah Index trimmed 3.37 points to 10,884.13 and the FBM ACE Index dipped 27.76 points to 5,161.07.
The FBMT100 Index ticked up 0.66 of a point to 10,402.64 and the FBM 70 Index recovered 1.03 points to 14,136.75.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index rose 15.94 points to 16,442.62, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged down 0.06 of a point to 172.68 and the Energy Index dropped 4.1 points to 851.37.
The Plantation Index declined 6.21 points to 6,857.94.
Source: The Edge
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