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.
The Asian market looks likely to test February highs today, with the US manufacturing sector and gains in oil prices helped to ease the pressure and worries about a global slowdown. The US stocks had already gained much higher yesterday. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.6 percent in early trade, coming within striking distance of last month's peak touched on Feb. 23, its highest since early January. According to Reuters report, Chicago-listed futures point to a 2.6 percent gains in Japan's Nikkei. The market has basically been responding to the good news from the manufacturing data, which had been a major concern before this. This could probably revive expectations of a Fed rate hike. The Institute for Supply Management's (ISM) index of factory activity, a closely-watched measure of the U.S. manufacturing sector, rose more than expected last month. It also edged up for two months in a row, appearing to have snapped its almost...