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.
Asian stocks followed Wall Street’s lead on Tuesday, falling sharply as fears over a potential U.S. recession deepened, triggered by concerns about a wide-ranging trade war and U.S. economic slowdown . Investors sought safe-haven assets like the Japanese yen , while global stock markets continued their slide. Key Market Moves: U.S. Stock Market Woes : The S&P 500 dropped 2.7% , and the Nasdaq tumbled 4.0% —its worst one-day percentage loss since September 2022 . Futures for both indices slid by 1% in Asian trading hours on Tuesday. Asia-Pacific Stocks in the Red : Japan’s Nikkei and Taiwan's stocks plunged by about 3% , reaching their lowest levels since September . The MSCI Asia-Pacific index outside Japan dropped by more than 1% . Even Chinese stocks , which had performed well earlier this year, were not immune, with the Hang Seng In...