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.
Chinese lenders are aggressively issuing Tier-2 and perpetual bonds to secure ultra-low funding rates, with yields hitting their lowest levels since records began in 2009 . 🔹 Tier-2 Bonds : Avg. coupon at 2.35% 🔹 Perpetual Debt : Avg. coupon at 2.31% “Banks are locking in cheap funding amid a drop in government bond yields. They don’t expect such low yields to sustain,” said Timothy Tan, Bloomberg Intelligence. Capital bond issuance surged 23% QoQ to a record ¥638.7B (≈US$89B) in Q2 2025. Context: Relief for banks facing shrinking net interest margins and rising bad loans Consolidation of smaller rural banks continues Commercial banks' capital adequacy ratio stands at 15.28%, down from 15.74% in 2024 Outlook : Bond supply may taper in H2 as Q2 placements front-loaded funding needs.