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.
Amid a turbulent week in the markets due to Middle East tensions , Indian investors set a new record, purchasing $1.53 billion in shares during Thursday's selloff, the largest since August. This marked the third time in 2024 that domestic buyers poured over $1 billion into the market in a single day , helping to absorb most of the $1.8 billion in stocks offloaded by foreign investors. The Nifty index is on track for its biggest weekly decline in over two years , yet domestic institutions continue to capitalize on market dips, demonstrating their resilience and influence during times of global volatility. In other sectors, BSE and brokerage Angel One outperformed Thursday's selloff, despite concerns over the impact of SEBI's options trading curbs . While premium turnover has stagnated, some analysts expect trading volumes from discontinued NSE contracts to shift to BSE , providing a potential upside. Meanwhile, the recovery in consumer staples stocks has been called i...