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.
Key Highlights from Piper Sandler's 2025 CIO Survey Tech Budget Increases for 2025 : 87% of CIOs plan to increase IT budgets next year—the highest percentage in the survey’s history, signaling strong optimism for the tech sector. The focus is shifting from testing and planning to implementation of AI technologies. Google Cloud Leads in AI Strategy : Google Cloud claimed the "most strategic AI vendor" title with 27% of votes , up from 15% six months ago. This marks a significant reversal from Microsoft, which saw its share drop from 33% to 24%. Top Choice for AI Infrastructure : 50% of CIOs plan to use Google Cloud for testing and implementing AI projects, solidifying its dominance in this category. Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services (AWS), and Oracle Cloud also saw rising interest. Implications for AI Chipmakers : Nvidia, which commands over 70% of the AI GPU market , stands to benefit from increased AI infrastructure ...