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.
A total of 202 federal government projects under the 12th Malaysia Plan (12MP) have been categorized as ailing projects (projek sakit) as of the end of 2023, according to the Auditor General’s (AG) Report . These projects have been delayed by more than two months or 20% beyond the timeline stipulated in their contracts. These ailing projects represent 5.93% of the 3,404 ongoing projects under the 12MP. Additionally, 107 projects (3.14%) are behind schedule, 549 projects (16.13%) are ahead of schedule, and 2,305 projects (67.71%) are on schedule. Another 241 projects (7.08%) show no progress due to a lack of data in the MyProjek system. The ailing projects fall under the purview of 19 out of 26 government ministries , with the Ministry of Education having the highest number, with 72 delayed projects , followed by the Ministry of Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change (24), Ministry of Rural and Regional Development (22), Ministry of Health (18), Ministry...