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 FBM KLCI gained 0.5% or 8.7 points as Asian market pushed higher, led by the Japanese market.
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As at 5pm, the benchmark index closed at 1,661.25 points, as the Japanese led the Asian equity market rally on weaker yen as US interest rate hike expectation strengthened the US dollar.
The Finance Index increased 0.65% to 14,249.84 points, the Properties Index up 0.47% to 1,209.86 points and the Plantation Index rose 0.37% to 7,949.49 points. The market traded within a range of 8.00 points between an intra-day high of 1,666.02 and a low of 1,658.02 during the session.
Japan's Nikkei 225 climbed 0.83% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng edged higher by 0.45%. China markets are closed this week for the National Day holidays.
Asian shares shrugged off a sluggish start and pushed higher on Tuesday, with Japanese markets leading the way after an upbeat US manufacturing survey bolstered the dollar according to reports by Reuters.
The upbeat US factory numbers had a mixed impact on US shares overnight. While strong survey reassured investors worried about the strength of the US economy, it also encouraged bets that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates as early as this year. Higher rates, while good for the dollar, could pressure equities markets, it says.
Across Bursa Malaysia, 1.49 billion shares valued at RM1.94 billion were traded. A total of 408 counters ended higher while 398 fell. Trading volume decreased as compared to Friday’s 1.75 billion shares worth RM2.19 billion.
Dutch Lady Milk Industries Bhd was the top gainer while the biggest decliner was Panasonic Manufacturing Malaysia Bhd. Today's most-active counter was Borneo Oil Bhd.
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