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.
Global chipmaker Intel (INTC.US) will release its third-quarter 2025 earnings after the market closes on Thursday (ET). This will be the first financial update since Intel secured strategic investments from SoftBank, Nvidia, and the U.S. government , drawing intense attention from both investors and competitors. Options Market Signals: Bullish but Costly Bets Intel’s options market suggests traders are positioning for a highly volatile upside move . Put/Call Ratio: 0.67 — indicating strong bullish sentiment, as call options vastly outnumber puts. Implied Volatility (IV): 78.03%, ranking in the 94th percentile — signaling extremely expensive options pricing. This combination shows that while traders expect a positive surprise, the bar for Intel to impress is exceptionally high . Core Financial Expectations Revenue: US$13.14 billion (▼1% YoY, ▲2% QoQ), slightly above Intel’s guidance midpoint. Gross Margin: 35.6...