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.
2016 definitely didn't start off brightly. For those who were concern about the economic outlook in 2016, things are already looking pretty muddled. Emerging-market shares slumped the most since August as evidence of slowing manufacturing in China triggered a selloff that halted trading in Shanghai. China’s CSI 300 Index fell 7 percent and triggered a circuit-breaker that suspended trading for the rest of the day. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng China Enterprises Index, which tracks mainland shares traded in the city, slid 3.6 percent. Benchmark gauges in South Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia, South Africa and Poland lost more than 2 percent. The MSCI All-Country World Index fell 2.1 percent by 5 p.m. in New York, topping its slide of 1.5 percent at the start of 2001. The S&P 500 dropped to 2,012.66, after the gauge ended 2015 down 0.7 percent. In short, the whole market seems to be on the downside. According to marketwatch, odds of a losing year based on Dow's performance on th...