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 World Bank launched its revamped "Business Ready" report on Thursday, assessing the business and investment climate of 50 economies. Singapore, Hungary, and Estonia took top positions in key categories, marking the return of a major World Bank business survey since the "Doing Business" rankings were scrapped in 2021. The new survey evaluates a country's business environment across three major areas: regulatory quality , public service effectiveness (such as electricity and tax administration), and operational efficiency . The report moves away from ranking countries, instead using business readiness scores to provide a clearer picture of how prepared a country is for investment. Singapore scored the highest in operational efficiency , with a score of 87.33% , followed by Georgia, Rwanda, and Estonia . Hungary led in regulatory framework , achieving 78.23% , followed by Portugal, Georgia, and the Slovak Republic . Estonia topped the public services ...