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.
Market Reaction Ekovest Bhd (KL:EKOVEST) and Knusford Bhd (KL:KNUSFOR) shares slid sharply on Tuesday after their proposed RM450 million merger fell through following the third extended deadline. Ekovest: Closed down 7.95% at 40.5 sen , with a market cap of RM1.2 billion . Knusford: Dropped 17.7% to 51 sen , valuing the company at RM50.82 million . Ekovest was the second most traded stock on Bursa Malaysia , with 104.44 million shares exchanged , more than nine times its 90-day average. Knusford’s trading volume surged to 5.55 million shares , 33 times higher than usual. Merger Falls Through Both companies confirmed they were “unable to reach an agreement on the transaction value and key terms.” While the deal has lapsed, they left the door open for future discussions if conditions improve. The merger, first announced in October 2023 , would have seen Knusford acquire Ekovest Construction Sdn Bhd ...