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.
Apple ( AAPL ) heads into Thursday’s fiscal Q3 earnings with its stock down 14.4% YTD , lagging the S&P 500’s +8.6% and trailing fellow Mag-7 heavyweights like NVIDIA (+29.2%) and Microsoft (+21.9%) . Wall Street remains cautious, with 20 of 29 analysts trimming their estimates this quarter. Consensus expects EPS of $1.42 on $89B revenue , reflecting modest 1.4% earnings and 3.7% revenue growth year-over-year — soft compared to Apple’s historical performance. Why the Weakness? Slow adoption of generative AI relative to peers. Lack of major product innovation in recent cycles. Despite a $100B buyback authorization and higher dividends in May, investor sentiment hasn’t fully recovered. The Technical Setup: Triple-Top or Breakout? Apple’s chart paints a critical picture. Since May, the stock has formed a triple-top pattern around the $215 resistance level , signaling potential bearish ...