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 S&P 500 ended its two-day climb on Wednesday, closing lower after fluctuating throughout the session as investors evaluated the Federal Reserve's potential rate cuts and analyzed recent housing-market data . Meanwhile, the Nasdaq 100 rose modestly, supported by strong performance in tech stocks like Micron Technology Inc and Nvidia Corp . The 10-year US Treasury yield advanced to 3.79%, while the Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index gained after a 0.5% drop the day before. Micron shares surged more than 10% in post-market trading after the company provided a robust revenue forecast, driven by demand for AI hardware . Fresh data revealed that US new home sales fell last month, though mortgage rates have dropped for eight consecutive weeks, sparking interest in home purchases. Skylar Olsen , chief economist at Zillow , noted that mortgage rates are unlikely to drop much further. Market Eyes Fed Moves and Post-Rate-Cut Catalysts Investors remain cautious following last wee...