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.
Global information technology (IT) spending is projected to reach $5.26 trillion (RM24.60 trillion) in 2024, marking a 7.5% increase from 2023, according to the latest forecast by Gartner Inc.
Key Highlights:
- Spending Forecast: This growth rate is a slight decrease from the previous quarter's forecast of 8% but still represents a substantial increase in overall spending, up from the forecasted $5.06 trillion.
- Generative AI Impact: John-David Lovelock, Gartner's distinguished analyst and research vice-president, highlighted that generative AI (GenAI) is influencing all technology segments, although its benefits are unevenly distributed.
Generative AI and Software Spending:
- Revenue Impact: Lovelock noted that while some software spending increases are due to GenAI, for software companies, GenAI often functions like a tax. Revenue gains from GenAI-related add-ons or tokens generally flow back to AI model provider partners.
Data Center Systems Spending:
- Significant Increase: Spending on data center systems is expected to rise by 24% in 2024, up from a 10% growth forecast in the previous quarter. This surge is largely driven by the increased compute power needs of GenAI, which are impacting data centers significantly.
IT Services Spending:
- Revised Projections: IT services spending is now projected to grow by 7.1% in 2024, down from the previous forecast of 9.7%. This adjustment is partly due to slower spending in subsegments such as consulting and business process services.
- CIO Trends: Lovelock mentioned that change fatigue among chief information officers has lessened since the start of the year, and contract backlogs from the third quarter of 2023 are being cleared. A rush towards the end of the year is anticipated to compensate for the slow start.
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