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.
Annual inflation in the Philippines slowed to 3.3% in August, reaching a seven-month low as price increases in food and transport costs moderated, according to the statistics agency. This slowdown provides room for the central bank, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), to further ease interest rates. Key Highlights: Inflation Data : The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose by 3.3% in August, down from 4.4% in July, bringing the average inflation rate to 3.6% for the first eight months of the year. This is within the central bank's comfort range of 2% to 4% and marks the slowest inflation rate since January's 2.8%. Core inflation, excluding volatile food and energy prices, also fell to 2.6%. Factors Contributing to Slowdown : Easing in food and transport costs, especially rice inflation, which decreased to 14.7%, the lowest since October 2023. Tariffs on rice were reduced from 35% to 15% by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., contributing to a slower price increase than initially expected....