Later in the week, reports emerged that the Biden administration is expected to roll out US$2 trillion stimulus package.
Crude oil posted gains with Brent rising by 0.78% w-o-w to US$56.42 per barrel, still hovering at the highest level since February 2020. The gains were boosted by optimism over the US stimulus package, Saudi Arabia’s announcement of a big voluntary production cut of 1mbpd in February and March and bigger-than-expected drop in crude inventories by 3.25 mbpd for week ending Jan 8 compared with 8.01 mbpd of supply cut in the previous week .
The safe-haven yen rose 0.13% to 103.8, contributed by healthier December’s key data including Eco Watchers Survey Outlook which came higher at 37.1 compared with 36.5 in November and Producer Price Index that climbed 0.5% month-on-month after three months of deflationary versus -0.1% m-o-m in the previous month . In battling the pandemic spread, the Japanese government decided to widen a state of emergency beyond Tokyo.
Secondary trade volume shaved off around 55% to RM975mil from RM2.2bil. The credit spread narrowed by 15.9bps on average across the curve. The shorter end rose 19.9bps on average while both the belly and longer ends of the curve eased averagely by 42.7bps and 21bps, respectively.The IRS was seen easing 8.3–12bps from the front until the back end of the curve. The 3-month KLIBOR stood at 1.94%. Elsewhere, the five-year CDS rose 10% w/w to 41.17bps.During the week , the FBM KLCI surged 32.