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.
New Zealand’s central bank surprised markets with a dovish pivot, slashing its policy rate to a three-year low of 3.00% and signaling the possibility of further rate cuts as economic conditions weaken both domestically and globally. Key Policy Action Rate cut: 25 basis points, bringing the Official Cash Rate (OCR) to 3.00% Lowest level since: Early 2022 Dissenting votes: 2 of 6 members voted for a deeper 50bps cut New projected floor: OCR at 2.55% by Q1 2026 (down from 2.85%) Market Reaction NZD/USD fell as much as 1.2% to a 4-month low of $0.5829 2-year swap rates dropped to 2.96% , the lowest in over three years Market pricing: Now implies a >100% chance of another cut in November , and ~50% chance in October RBNZ Policy Statement Highlights “Cautious behaviour by households and businesses could further dampen economic growth… There is scope to l...