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.
Singapore’s economy expanded 2.9% year-on-year in the third quarter , slower than the revised 4.5% growth recorded in the previous quarter, but still ahead of economists’ expectations of 1.9%, according to advance estimates from the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) . Manufacturing Stalls Amid Tariff Pressures Growth was dampened by weak manufacturing activity , which was unchanged from a year earlier after rising 5.0% in the second quarter. The slowdown reflects the ongoing impact of U.S. tariffs on Singapore’s exports and ripple effects across regional supply chains. Non-oil domestic exports fell for a second consecutive month in August , as earlier front-loading of shipments ahead of tariff hikes faded. Although the 10% U.S. tariff on Singapore’s goods is among the lowest in Asia, the city-state’s export-driven economy remains highly exposed to external headwinds, especially in ph...