KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 8 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia closed almost flat on Tuesday as buying interest rotated away from index heavyweights towards smaller-cap construction stocks, with sentiment affected by geopolitical uncertainty, said an analyst. At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 0.39 of a point to 1,714.40 from Monday’s close of 1,714.79. The benchmark index opened 1.65 points lower at 1,713.14 and moved between 1,710.44 and 1,714.50 throughout the trading session. The broader market was almost evenly balanced, with decliners leading gainers 548 to 546, while 598 counters were unchanged, 1,107 were untraded and 25 were suspended. Turnover expanded to 4.13 billion units valued at RM3.14 billion from 3.60 billion units valued at RM2.45 billion on Monday.
The US market opened lower on Tuesday as weak Chinese data brings back the fear of a global economic slowdown.
Reuters reported that China's February trade performance was far worse than economists had expected, with exports tumbling the most in over six years. The data weighed on markets worldwide.
It is obvious that people are still very nervous and the market is in such a fragile state that any bad news could easily break it. Crude prices also shed their gains and were down about 2%.
Oil has recovered from the 2016 low touched in January, but Goldman Sachs analysts on Tuesday said the recent rally was premature as prices would need to remain lower to help rebalance the market later in the year.
At 9:39 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 84.02 points, or 0.49%, at 16,989.93, the S&P 500 was down 13.35 points, or 0.67%, at 1,988.41 and the Nasdaq Composite index was down 35.30 points, or 0.75%, at 4,672.95.
Investors are focusing on data for clues on the state of the global economy and monetary policies of central banks across the world.
The European Central Bank is expected to announce further stimulus at its meeting later this week.
In contrast, the U.S. Federal Reserve is looking to raise interest rates this year as a raft of data suggested the economic recovery in the United States was gaining momentum.
The positive sentiment helped the S&P 500 to its first five-day streak of gains since October and close above 2,000 for the first time since Jan. 5 on Monday.
Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by 1,973 to 665. On the Nasdaq, 1,607 issues fell and 602 advanced.
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It is obvious that people are still very nervous and the market is in such a fragile state that any bad news could easily break it. Crude prices also shed their gains and were down about 2%.
Oil has recovered from the 2016 low touched in January, but Goldman Sachs analysts on Tuesday said the recent rally was premature as prices would need to remain lower to help rebalance the market later in the year.
At 9:39 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 84.02 points, or 0.49%, at 16,989.93, the S&P 500 was down 13.35 points, or 0.67%, at 1,988.41 and the Nasdaq Composite index was down 35.30 points, or 0.75%, at 4,672.95.
Investors are focusing on data for clues on the state of the global economy and monetary policies of central banks across the world.
The European Central Bank is expected to announce further stimulus at its meeting later this week.
In contrast, the U.S. Federal Reserve is looking to raise interest rates this year as a raft of data suggested the economic recovery in the United States was gaining momentum.
The positive sentiment helped the S&P 500 to its first five-day streak of gains since October and close above 2,000 for the first time since Jan. 5 on Monday.
Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by 1,973 to 665. On the Nasdaq, 1,607 issues fell and 602 advanced.
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