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.
Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd. (CATL) , the world’s largest battery maker and a key supplier to Tesla , reported that a fire at its battery factory in Ningde, Fujian province on Sunday had a "relatively small" impact on production, with no casualties reported. The company stated that the volume of products affected by the fire was limited, and the incident is currently under investigation. The factory is part of CATL’s core production base , known as the "Z base" , which is located near its headquarters and features some of the company’s most advanced production lines. The fire was extinguished by 10:20 pm , according to local reports. This follows a deadly fire in June at Aricell , a South Korean lithium battery maker, which resulted in 23 deaths due to rushed production without addressing quality issues. CATL emphasized that despite the incident, the impact on its overall production and operations remains minimal.