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.
Blue-chip companies in the US are facing increased interest payments on US dollar bonds , and even potential rate cuts by the Federal Reserve (Fed) may not immediately alleviate the trend. According to a note by JPMorgan Chase & Co. , high-grade issuers are expected to pay around $420 billion (RM1.81 trillion) in interest this year, marking an 18% increase from last year. This rate of increase is three times higher than the revenue growth rate for companies in the S&P 500 Index during the second quarter, indicating that rising interest costs are putting pressure on profit growth. Persisting Higher Interest Costs The difference between yields on new bonds and maturing bonds in the US investment-grade market averages about 2.01 percentage points or 201 basis points , according to Bloomberg data. This suggests that higher borrowing costs are likely to continue for several more quarters, even if the Fed cuts rates soon. “Even with some Fed cuts, issuers will still on averag...