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.
China has announced plans to expand its support for unfinished property projects to four trillion yuan ($562 billion) , a significant increase from the 2.23 trillion yuan already deployed. This move aims to stabilize the country’s struggling real estate sector, which has been a key concern for the world's second-largest economy. Housing Minister Ni Hong revealed the measure at a briefing on Thursday. This expansion comes as part of broader efforts by the Chinese government to achieve its 5% economic growth target for 2024. In September, China unveiled a series of initiatives to revive the property sector , including lowering borrowing costs on $5.3 trillion worth of mortgages and relaxing rules for second-home purchases . The "white-list" programme , designed to ensure unfinished homes are completed and delivered to buyers, has already deployed 2.23 trillion yuan to support these projects. Many homebuyers have protested over incomplete construction across the count...