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.
Asian share markets attempted to stabilize on Thursday following a steep global sell-off, while a rally in US Treasuries weakened the dollar and boosted the yen. Concerns over the US economy have heightened expectations of significant interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve (Fed). Key Market Movements: Equities: Japan's Nikkei fell 0.5% to its lowest level in three weeks. Tech-heavy markets in Taiwan and South Korea both rose by 1%, helping lift MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan by 0.6%, breaking a three-day losing streak. US Economic Data: Investors are closely watching a week full of economic data releases, including Wednesday's mixed labor data and Tuesday's weak manufacturing figures, which have kept markets jittery. The focus is on the upcoming US services industry reading and jobless claims data. However, the key event will be Friday's August non-farm payrolls report, expected to provide clear indications of the US economy's dire...