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.
Nokia reported a 9% rise in third-quarter operating profit , driven by cost cuts , but missed net sales expectations due to weak demand from India , leading to an 8% drop in sales to €4.33 billion ($4.70 billion) , below analyst estimates of €4.76 billion . This caused Nokia's shares to fall by 3% . Despite the sales drop, Nokia, like rival Ericsson , noted signs of recovery in some areas, particularly in North America , which has shown growth after years of weakness. However, Nokia's market share in the region has declined due to the loss of contracts with Verizon and AT&T . CEO Pekka Lundmark stated that while growth is returning, it is slower than expected, and the telecom sector is unlikely to become a high-growth market again. Nokia is focusing on sectors like data centers and defense for future growth, including its $2.3 billion acquisition of Infinera to target data center operators . The company also expects India to recover in 2024, following a recent cont...