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.
In the second quarter of 2025 , U.S. companies experienced their worst wave of credit downgrades since early 2021 , with US$94 billion of high-grade debt downgraded — outpacing upgrades for the first time in over four years. The downgrade trend is setting off alarms across Wall Street, as investors begin to question whether corporate bonds are priced too optimistically given today’s economic uncertainty. Key Stats That Matter Downgrades: US$94 billion Upgrades: US$78 billion Fallen Angels (cut to junk): US$34 billion Rising Stars (raised to investment grade): US$3 billion High-grade bond spreads: ~0.8% (vs. 1.5% long-term avg) High-yield bond spreads: ~2.8% (vs. 4.9% long-term avg) “Credit picking is super important now. The vulnerability to downgrades is higher.” — Jon Curran, Principal Asset Management Warning Signs Are Flashing More companies are deferring interest payments. 9% of global high-yield borrowers are ...