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.
Amid growing global trade tensions, Singapore has narrowly dodged a technical recession , thanks to a pre-tariff export rush and a rebound in construction. Q2 GDP grew +1.4% quarter-on-quarter , beating estimates of 0.8% and reversing Q1’s -0.5% contraction. On a year-on-year basis , growth came in at +4.3% , outperforming the median forecast of 3.6%. What Drove the Rebound? Front-Loaded Exports Before Aug 1 Tariffs Manufacturing grew slightly at +0.1% , but was driven by firms rushing to ship out goods before US tariffs kick in . Services sectors expanded +1.4% QoQ and +4.8% YoY , also linked to trade-related activity and logistics. Public Sector Construction Boom Construction rebounded +4.4% QoQ after a -1.8% dip in Q1, helping support domestic demand. “The rebound is welcome, but headwinds are coming,” said Selena Ling, OCBC’s research head. “The key concern is post-August — once the tariff shield dro...