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.
India’s headline inflation eased to near record lows in September and could fall below 1% in October , according to Citi analysts Samiran Chakraborty and Baqar M Zaidi . Despite ample room for policy easing, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is expected to stay on hold , with policymakers debating whether there’s a need to cut rates, not just room to do so. Core CPI, however, rose to a two-year high , suggesting sticky price pressures in some segments. Citi cut its FY inflation forecast to 2.3% from 2.9% , noting the RBI will likely monitor GDP and trade data ahead of its December meeting before considering any policy shift.