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.
Chip stocks worldwide have shed more than US$420 billion in combined market value following a tepid outlook from ASML Holding NV , a key supplier of advanced chipmaking equipment. This warning has triggered a global selloff, halting a recent rally that had pushed chip stocks to a three-month high. ASML , based in the Netherlands, saw its shares tumble by the most since 1998 after cutting its 2025 revenue guidance . The company reduced the top end of its net sales forecast for 2025 from €40 billion to €35 billion , citing weakness in areas beyond AI applications. The announcement, which was mistakenly released a day early, shocked investors with the magnitude of the correction, as noted by Citigroup analyst Atif Malik . The selloff affected Nvidia Corp , which fell nearly 5% , alongside other major chipmakers, including Tokyo Electron Ltd (down 10%) and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (down 3.3%). While some investors believe ASML's struggles may be specific to the com...