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.
PetroChina is preparing to shut down its largest refinery in north China , located in Dalian , around mid-2025 , marking the first major closure of a state-run oil facility. This move is part of a long-standing plan to replace it with a smaller refinery at a new site, according to sources familiar with the matter. The 410,000 barrels per day (bpd) Dalian Petrochemical plant , which represents 3% of China’s total refinery output , will be shut down as Chinese refiners grapple with overcapacity and weakened fuel demand due to slowing economic growth and the rise of electric vehicles . PetroChina has already closed 210,000 bpd —about half of the plant’s capacity—at its Dalian subsidiary, according to the sources, though PetroChina has not yet publicly commented on the matter. The closure is part of a relocation plan following a series of safety incidents, including a major oil spill in 2010, an explosion in 2013, and a fire in 2017. Under an agreement with Dalian authorities , C...