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 budget deficit has reached $1.5 trillion with just two months remaining in the fiscal year, marking a slight decrease from the previous year but still significantly higher than pre-pandemic levels. Treasury Department data released on Wednesday shows the deficit for the first 10 months of the fiscal year through July was down 6% compared to the same period in 2023.
Key Highlights:
Deficit Details: The budget deficit for the 10 months through July stood at $1.52 trillion, a 6% reduction from the same period last year. For July alone, the deficit was $244 billion, 16% smaller than July 2023, after adjusting for calendar differences.
Higher Revenues: The narrowing of the deficit was partly driven by higher revenues, which increased due to the deferral of tax deadlines from fiscal 2023 to this year for states affected by natural disasters, including most of California.
Rising Interest Costs: The interest burden on the outstanding US debt continues to be a significant strain on the budget. Interest costs for the first 10 months of the fiscal year totaled $956 billion, a 32% increase from 2023. The Federal Reserve's ongoing interest rate hikes, intended to combat inflation, have made federal debt more expensive to issue.
Interest Rates: The weighted average interest rate on outstanding US interest-bearing government debt was 3.33% at the end of July, the highest rate since January 2010 and an increase of about half a percentage point from a year earlier.
As the fiscal year draws to a close, the US continues to grapple with the challenges of managing a large budget deficit, exacerbated by rising interest costs on the national debt.
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