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.
It is easy to think that the nightmare for oil ended in 2015 but the market is showing us otherwise. Crude oil's nightmare continues in 2016 as the price fell toward $30 a barrel. A supply response to lower prices continues to be slow in coming and signs of a China's slowdown is hurting the oil & gas producers. The low oil price is hurting the oil & gas sector HOW LOW CAN IT GO? The drop in oil prices has been accompanied by a fresh round of bearish commentary, with Morgan Stanley calling for prices to fall as low as $20 per barrel while Guggenheim sees crude reaching $25 per barrel. With the continuous drop, the latest range of investment bank forecasts has them dropping as low as $10 a barrel before finally bouncing back. So, will it be $25, $20 or even $10? How low can it go? Primarily to blame was the 14 per cent slump on China's markets this year, which is being driven by concerns over growth that could ultimately hit oil demand....