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 Premier Li Qiang and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman held a meeting in Riyadh on Wednesday to discuss deepening cooperation across several sectors, including energy, investment, and trade , according to the Saudi state news agency, SPA. During the meeting, Li urged both Beijing and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) —which includes Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE)—to accelerate negotiations on a free trade agreement. This statement was made in a meeting with GCC Secretary General Jasem al-Budaiwi , as reported by Chinese state news agency Xinhua. The SPA reported that al-Budaiwi emphasized the need to move forward and finalize the trade talks "in the near future." However, free trade negotiations have stalled due to Saudi Arabia's concerns over low-cost Chinese imports . Sources told Reuters in May that the talks were at an impasse, with Saudi Arabia worried that a flood of cheaper Chinese products could undermine its plans to develop dom...